A Call To Private Sector To Adopt A School

Monitor Editor | Monday February 17, 2020 14:33

Students are taught in conditions that are not conducive for both the learners and the teachers.

In 2011 the Adopt-A-School initiative was launched, and it was bearing fruit, but unfortunately the initiative died a slow and painful death.

The initiative appealed to individuals, private companies and non-governmental organisations to provide volunteers, financial resources or equipment to schools.

One of the Vision 2016 pillars was to have ‘An educated and informed nation’, but unfortunately perhaps due to budget constraints, our country is still faced with many challenges in the education sector, one of which is creating a conducive environment for learning.

Different publications over the years have been reporting on the heartbreaking state of schools across the nation. Apart from dilapidated buildings, some schools do not have enough classes to accommodate all the pupils/students, and worse off many of these schools have blocked toilets, which is a health hazard to both learners and teachers.

The Monitor recently published an article on Patikwane Junior Secondary School at Mabeleapudi. The state of the school is appalling, and one of the challenges the school faces is having to teach students under trees, as the already dilapidated classes are not enough to accommodate all the learners admitted at the school.

Equally, the school’s drainage system is not working properly, and it is spilling over, which is of course a health hazard to students and teachers. This story is one of many, as even more schools in our country are far from being in ‘a (state of a) conducive learning environment’.

The issue is not only dilapidated buildings but also an acute shortage of facilities. Looking at the state of affairs, it does not seem like government has any kind of maintenance plan in place, and if it is there, it is obviously failing to produce any positive results. The other issue is that of upgrade, some schools, especially those in rural areas find themselves being short of nine or more classes owing to an increase in the population of certain villages. Regardless of how much the population has increased, many schools have aged from wear and tear, and have not developed from the state they were when they were first built, some 30 or 50 years ago. The government always decries budget constraints, when schools present the many challenges they are faced with.

For the sake of our future leaders let us come together as different stakeholders and bring back the adopt-a-school initiative and assist schools in any way we can. Let us all contribute towards building a brighter future for our children.