A Cape Town school is being systematically stripped by vandals, and parents, pupils and teachers are fed up.
|||Cape Town - A Valhalla Park school is being systematically stripped by vandals who have left every classroom without lights, toilets without water and the school feeding scheme without essential supplies.
Parents, pupils and teachers – fed-up with the spate of burglaries at Beauvallon Secondary – marched to the Bishop Lavis police station on Monday to voice their dissatisfaction.
Exams which had been scheduled for on Monday had to be postponed because there were no lights in the classrooms, and pupils who rely on the school feeding scheme returned home hungry because pots had been stolen and stoves stripped for parts.
Some classrooms have gaping holes in their ceilings, and doors have been removed in order to steal the hinges.
A block of classrooms behind the school – currently not in use – has holes in its walls and ceiling boards that have been ripped apart.
Principal David Lawn said some teachers were refusing to teach until drastic measures had been taken to fix the situation: “Last week Friday, we spent about R6 800 fixing water pipes, but they have been stolen again.”
Lawn said that while the burglars usually gained entry through the kitchen roof, they had entered through the wall in the latest burglary. He said a member of the governing body contacted the police after a group of men tried to sell him goods stolen from the school, but he got no response.
Shameemha Titus, one of the parents who marched to the police station, said: “We are not happy with government. All other schools are being provided with funds for maintenance, but why not this school? The government needs to do something. Gangsters come here and do whatever they want to. Now our children have to stay at home and do nothing.”
In March, the Cape Argus reported that the school had been hit by thieves who stole food meant for the feeding scheme, left a gaping hole in the kitchen ceiling, and damaged the geyser, which flooded the room.
Bronagh Casey, spokeswoman for Education MEC Donald Grant, said the school had reported three incidents of burglary and vandalism this year and one incident last year.
Vandalism over the past week had resulted in damage to two classrooms and a feeding scheme room.
“Electrical cables were stolen, which has resulted in there being no electricity in the three education blocks. Currently the admin building is the only building that has electricity. The water has also been affected due to the theft of copper pipes. These pipes were recently replaced following another vandalism incident at the school,” Casey said.
The Western Cape Education Department was trying to arrange equipment for the school’s feeding scheme and to provide additional security measures.
Police spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Andre Traut said police had taken notice of the complaints and further comment would be given at a later stage.
School on list to get the chop
In October, Education MEC Donald Grant announced that 20 schools, including Beauvallon Secondary, would be closed at the end of this year.
He said the factors he had considered when making his decision included that the infrastructure at the school was becoming “increasingly unsuitable” and this affected the safety of pupils and teachers, the security at the school and the ability of the school to retain pupils.
He said the school’s 461 pupils could be accommodated at John Ramsay High School.
In December the school was among 17 facing closure that received a temporary reprieve thanks to an interim interdict granted in the Western Cape High Court.
Cape Argus
