Last week I wrote about the problem of over-crowded classrooms that our school children are again having to face at the beginning of a new academic year.
This is, of course, a problem that our education authorities need to learn to anticipate, as it repeats itself year after year.
It becomes a bit unbelievable when they say that they didn’t expect the numbers.
The fact is, there are always going to be more school children than what you thought there would be.
This is, therefore, a simple matter of over-catering, so that no child is left without a school, or in a cramped classroom.
So I would like to warn the Western Cape Education MEC and national minister that the problem will disappear for a little bit, and your mind will be at ease about it for the rest of the year, but you can expect it to return at the beginning of 2020.
So put plans in place now already.
VANDALISM: Window panes have been stolen
Another one of the problems our kids face every new school year and that’s also completely out of their control, is the vandalism that destroys resources over the holidays.
The problem IS decreasing, but it still exists and we don’t seem to be doing anything about it.
A total of 27 schools were targeted over the last holidays.
Most of them had their equipment stolen, while others were simply vandalised for the sake of it.
One school had a section of its fence ripped out, while another was robbed of 100kg of food meant for the kids.
I understand that times are tough and people are trying to make ends meet, but targeting the very places helping to create a better future for us all just doesn’t make any sense.
Again, community members know who these people are.
You know who broke into the local school and stole the computers and copper cables.
They came knocking on your door trying to sell some of that stuff to you.
Or you heard people talk and you have a very good idea who was responsible.
We can no longer keep quiet about these sorts of crimes.
We are allowing them to get away with stealing our children’s futures from them.
If the teachers can’t be effective in the classroom because there’s a gaping hole in the ceiling or the computer that would’ve helped your child understand a science problem has been stolen and sold for R500, then we are all creating future problems for our communities.
We need to tackle the gangsterism problem from all angles.
We must also look ahead, so we don’t create more problems in the future.
These crimes are all interlinked and contribute to a general sense of despair and gloom.
Every time the government has to waste money repairing a school roof and replacing equipment (which takes months, by the way), the impact is enormous.
Besides the direct impact, it shows the kids that crime does pay, making it an option for them.
So we as communities have to be first in line to do the right thing.
And that could mean giving the authorities an anonymous tip-off, or it could mean getting some buddies together to patrol your old school over the holidays.
Breaking the cycle of gangsterism and violence, and creating a hopeful future for our kids all depend on us acting!