Cape Town - The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) said teaching and learning continue at a school which parents claim poses a safety hazard for their children.
This comes after parents of pupils attending Portland Primary in Mitchells Plain picketed outside the school premises on Thursday and shut the school down, stating that for safety reasons they would not allow their children onto the school grounds.
One of the parents, Shinaz Mohamed, told IOL it was clear the school was falling apart, adding that the stairs were collapsing.
“The stairs are falling apart. The whole block is falling apart. There is a whole section of the school where the stairs are broken. Flooring from the top, the railing and the classrooms are falling apart.
“We (parents) are only here to support our children. I am going to keep my child home because my child’s life matters because it is unsafe and unstable,” the mother said.
The WCED’s director of communications, Bronagh Hammond, said senior officials of the department visited the school and a block of 18 classrooms would be cordoned off to mitigate risk.
“This follows an assessment by a forensic engineer that four of these classrooms were deemed to be a risk.
“The WCED has recommended the placement of additional mobile units at the school as a short-term solution,” Hammond said.
She said the school would be implementing a rotating timetable for some grades while the mobile classrooms were procured and constructed.
“The District will be supporting the school with pupil resource packs for additional support. Pupils whose parents are unable to have their children at home during the rotation period will be accommodated at the school and supervised.
“We will continue to work with the school’s management team to ensure that our learners are able to learn in a safe environment. The safety of our learners is of utmost importance to us,” Hammond said.
The department was waiting for the final assessment report, Hammond said, which would determine a long-term solution.
IOL