western cape eastern cape gauteng limpopo kwazulu-natal

Students at Zolani High School in Whittlesea, in the Eastern Cape, are forced to sit outside the classroom while other students continue their studies inside, due to a shortage of classes. It is reported that this is a daily occurrence at the school. Although three classes for grades 8 and 9 and an administration office were rebuilt by the department in 2008, no library, computer lab, kitchen or laboratory facilities were constructed.Last year the school was upgraded from a junior secondary school to a high school after pupils from another local school were relocated to it.

The forced relocations formed part of government’s plans to close down schools with low numbers of pupils. As a result, the number of pupils at Zolani increased drastically. Pupils

are crammed into classes because no additional facilities have been provided for grades 10, 11 and 12.

Help could be on the horizon after the school was included on a list of 225 schools set to benefit from government’s Accelerated Schools Infrastructure Development Initiative (Asidi).

PuPils left out in the cold due to school merger (ec)

www.equaleducation.org.za

eastern cape: Youth camp in matatiale14 – 6 sep

western cape: amazwi wethu Film Festival19-20 sep

upcoming events

On their way to a branch meeting, just outside EE offices, six staff members from the Community and Youth De-partment made a sudden U-turn, when they noticed a young man being mugged at gunpoint by two armed men on bicycles. As they approached the scene, one of the armed men drew his gun and fired shots at the minibus with the EE staff members. Fleeing from the shots, the driver of the mini-bus made a hasty turn into Tembani Street and managed to avert the danger. None of the staff members were injured and the only damage sustained was to the headlights on the minibus. The police later arrived on the scene and a case has been filed.

equal education staff members shot at (Wc)

annual assements will happen Despite BoYcott (gp)Following boycotts against annual assessments for high school learners, the Department of Education has given the assurance that annual assessments will continue despite the teachers boy-cott. The assessments are expected to be held between September 15 and 18 2 for around 8.6 million pupils from Grade 1 to 9.The South African Teachers Union (SADTU) on Tuesday 8TH September, urged its members not invigilate during the assess-ments. They stated that there is an ongoing attack on collective bargaining and lack of consultation by the department which is why they are boycotting.The DA also weighed in on the matter, urging SADTU to retract their call for a boycott in the interest of learners.

The Human Rights Commission (HRC) has been working on a case in Limpopo where a family in Segopye village, near Turfloop, has barred their two children and four grandchil-dren from going to school. The family claims that the children become sick or suffer from broken limbs because their ancestors do not want to them to go school. The manager of the Limpopo Human Rights Commission (HRC), Victor Mavhidula, says that he has given six social workers the go ahead to take the six children on the grounds that it is unacceptable for children to be prevented from attending school due to cultural and ancestral beliefs. He said that their intention is to ensure that the department takes appro-priate action to make sure the children don’t remain at home and are able to attend school.

11 year old schoolboy in Durban who has allegedly been raped by his teacher, is suing the national and provincial education ministers for damages. The claim for damages is based on the duty the school had to ensure his safety at school. According to court papers filed in the Durban Re-gional Court, the 11-year-old boy, who cannot be named, alleges that he was sodomised by the teacher on numerous occasions between July 2013 and January 2014, at or near the school premises. The boy, while being assisted by his mother, is suing for R400 000 for general damages and R50 000 for medical treatment and counselling expenses. The Education Department has filed a notice of its intention to defend the matter, but has not filed details of its defence. According to a report from the KwaZulu-Natal Education Department to the provincial legislature in January, there were 11 finalised cases of sexual assault against the prov-ince’s teachers and six cases of sexual harassment.

limPoPo familY barred from

attending school

due to ancestral wishes boY suing education

minister for raPe

(KZn)

www.equaleducation.org.za