Concerned parents and residents shut down three primary schools in Parkwood Estate yesterday, in protest against the old schools’ decaying structural conditions.
Protesters demanded that Parkwood, Hyde Park and Montague’s Gift primary schools be rebuilt this year or in 2020.
They handed over a memorandum of demands to a Metropole South Education District (MSED) official.
The memorandum highlighted that learners attending Parkwood Estate’s three primary schools were being placed at risk as the state of the school buildings did not comply with safety and health regulations.
It further stated that the pupils constitutional right to be educated in a safe, dignified and conducive space for learning was being compromised.
The memorandum revealed that the existing buildings at the three schools are more than 50 years old.
According to the memorandum the buildings still serve as a model of no redress and apartheid-style delivery of service to the community of Parkwood Estate.
Parkwood Estate community leader and activist Pastor Paul Phillips said, Wednesday’s protests would force, Education MEC Debbie Schäfer to do a personal site inspection of the three schools in the area.
MSED director Granville Stander said Parkwood Primary should complete an emergency repair request, which would initiate a process of on-site inspections to determine the school’s maintenance needs.
WCED spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said the MSED would meet the school’s management to discuss their concerns.
More: IOL