Department of Education Extranet

SITUATION AT HANTAM HIGH SCHOOL

The MEC of Education, Mr Zolile Monakali met with concerned parents of Hantam High School today, following the closure of the school due to infrastructure related challenges. The MEC highlighted that his main priority is for learning and teaching to continue in a conducive environment, which is safe for learners, educators and the support staff. “We simply cannot afford learners to remain at home, whilst they should be in school. Collectively, we must take hands to ensure that we find an immediate solution to address the infrastructure challenges at the school”.

The Department has initiated the first phase of safeguarding the school building by installing props in the affected classrooms as a precautionary measure. We have also appointed engineers to assess and inspect the flooring of the affected classrooms. It should be noted, that the school building, with the props which was erected to support the affected classrooms, were declared safe by the Department of Labour and the engineers, whom have inspected the school building.

However, we are equally concerned about the current state of the school building and convened an urgent meeting with the engineer, based on the complaints that the building is vibrating, with the props installed. The Department is ready to implement phase 2 to further safeguard the school building, whilst we await the analysis from the engineers, which will guide the work of the contractor on exactly what needs to be done. 

As an immediate solution, the Department will procure 15 mobile classrooms for this school which will be delivered within the next 2 months. In the meantime we have placed this school on a rotational timetable to accommodate all learners, whilst Grade 12 learners will be daily in attendance.

We regret the delays on this project, but as a Department, we depend on the opinions of infrastructure professionals, before we can commence or implement any infrastructure related work. In addition to that, we would under no circumstances knowingly take risks with the safety of learners, educators and support staff of the school, hence our endeavours to solicit the best expertise on this matter.

Our District office will develop a curriculum recovery plan for this school to ensure that the academic performance of learners are not negatively affected. It was resolved that schooling will return back to normal as from tomorrow.

End.