By BAKANG MOKTO
Pupils and teachers at more than 150 schools still use pit latrines in the North West province.
The startling revelation came to light after a week-long oversight visit to schools by the provincial portfolio committees on Basic Education and Water and Sanitation.
Water and Sanitation committee chairperson, Mlungisi Johnson said there is a need to urgently eradicate the sanitation infrastructure backlog at schools in the province.
Johnson said it was unacceptable that young children even those in Grade R, continue to be subjected to substandard pit latrines, endangering their lives.
“The committees held a joint meeting over a range of issues such as the readiness to deliver end of the year exams as well as the state of infrastructure in the province.
It was reported by the Provincial Education Department that about 154 schools still have pit latrines in the province. Of this number, 119 are primary schools and 35 are high schools which will cost an estimated R279 million to build,” Johnson said.
“Of these 154 schools, the department has only budgeted money to eradicate pit latrines in only 50 schools. More effort must be put in place to eradicate the backlog.
Furthermore, the department must consult institutions such as the Water Research Commission for innovative systems that can assist the DBE in dealing with the huge infrastructure backlogs,” he said.
Johnson highlighted that there was a need for standardisation and use of technology that will ensure that many latrines are constructed at a fraction of the current cost that the department is paying.
He said it is a shared view that the R90m budgeted for 50 schools this year could go even further and build more latrines.
“We acknowledge the challenge that the DBE raised in relation to the Department of Public Works being responsible for the building of state infrastructure. The use of technological advances has the potential of utilising the limited budget to build more facilities,” he said.
Portfolio Committee chairperson on Basic Education, Nomalungelo Gina said the underperformance in spending conditional grants was pointed out as a red flag which needs urgent attention.
“The department informed us that it has so far spent about 5% of the Mathematics, Science and Technology (MST) conditional grant despite the huge challenge South Africa faces in relation to these subjects.
“Furthermore, we are concerned that the department has only spent 20.4% of the National School Nutrition programme by the end of the first quarter. The committee is of the view that proper planning should be done to ensure that spending is in par with projections,” said Gina.
However, the committee welcomed the measures that the department is implementing to deal with the under-spending.
The committee welcomes the assurance that the province is ready to deliver the National Senior Certificate examinations at the end of 2018.
“What is most important is the readiness of learners to write their exams as well as processes to guarantee the safety of question papers and answer sheets.
Following a visit to a district storage facility, the committee is confident that the protocols implemented will ensure that the province will deliver credible and secure examinations,” Gina said.
There were positives that the committees acknowledged during the visits.
“The good work done at the Taung Teacher Enrichment centre was welcomed by the committee. The support provided to teachers and learners is impressive despite the difficult operating environment.
Despite this, we have also stressed the need to implement maintenance programme at the centre as it is dilapidated currently,” Gina said.
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