PUPILS at the Lerutse Lesedi Secondary School in Makwassie, near Wolmaransstad in North West, are suffering from the negative effects of the bad sewage system in the area.

Last week pupils were told to go home because the stench was unbearable. Acting deputy principal of the school, Nikiwe Mxulu, confirmed to Sowetan that they had dismissed the pupils.

“We have elements who splash sewage into the classrooms and makes it difficult to teach,” Mxulu said.

“The smell is bad and not healthy for the learners to inhale, so we told them to go home.”

A Grade 9 learner at the school said it was difficult to concentrate.

“Grade 9 classes had sewage thrown around it. It was so smelly that we could not concentrate. It was not the first time we had been told to go home. It happened quite a lot last year,” the learner said.

A parent, Morakane Makhoane, whose daughter is also a learner at the school, said she was worried that her studies would suffer because of the constant disruptions.

“It is not good for children to be told to go home because of the smell,” Makhoane said.

“We had a meeting at the school about the issue and were promised that it would be fixed, but it hasn’t. If it carries on like this, her studies will ultimately suffer.”

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