The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Northern Cape is deeply concerned that the Department of Roads and Public Works continuously denies learners from Elandsvlei Primary School in the Ceres Karoo, the right to uninterrupted education.
Delays in attending to the condition of the Elandsvlei road on the R355, following frequent flooding of the Tankwa river, makes it difficult, and some days impossible, for the acting principal and only educator, to get to school.
When the road is flooded, the teacher is unable to travel safely on the 10 km stretch of road from her home to the school. She, and the four other learners who depend on her for transport, then have to skip school for the week. Under such conditions, two other learners, with separate transport, are also unable to access the school. This means that six of the 25 learners plus the only educator, cannot get to school for the better part of the rainy season. On days when the principal also cannot access the school, the situation is compounded and affects the remaining 19 learners.
While the DA welcomes the Department of Education’s announcement that an additional educator will be appointed, we are concerned that the acting principal submitted her resignation for the end of this year. Also, since May, the school has been struggling to recruit a suitably qualified educator. The Department of Education reported that this is largely due to a lack of accommodation for educators and the poor road conditions.
Provincial government needs to urgently prioritise the repair of flood damage in this district. The DA will follow-up on the correspondence sent to both the departments of roads and education and continue to apply pressure on them to effect much-needed maintenance. We will also submit parliamentary questions to determine what plans and allocations have been set aside towards the repair of the portion of the R355 in question.
No learner should have to miss out on a critical education due to departmental nonchalance.