Broken Promises and Climate of Fear At Eastern Cape School

Back in 2012, learners at Moshesh Senior Secondary School, about 35km from Matatiele in the Eastern Cape, contacted Equal Education (EE) about the abysmal conditions at their school. Last week, EE returned to Moshesh to see what had changed.

It had taken months of letter writing and local organising. Nearly two years ago, EE supported litigation to demand that the Department of Basic Education take urgent steps to alleviate the plight of learners at Moshesh.

What followed was groundbreaking, generating national attention and taking eight respondents, including the District Office and the Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, to court. The result was a court settlement agreement, which outlined point for point what needed to be done to improve things at Moshesh.

Instead, EE has found a disturbing climate of fear in which both teachers and learners are afraid to speak out about what is really happening at their school. Next to nothing has been done to improve the school, and even the most basic aspects of the settlement have not been followed.

The settlement agreement clearly stipulated that more teachers urgently needed to be appointed. Despite the claims of a District Office official that there are now 20 teachers at the school, a meeting with all of the teachers at Moshesh revealed that there are in fact only nine for a student population that is close to 500. Furthermore, two of these have not been paid a cent since August 2013.

The only concession to the agreement the District has made is extra classes for mathematics on Saturdays. However, given that it has failed to appoint a mathematics teacher, these so-called 'extra classes' are the only maths classes learners will have all week. Furthermore, the classes are only open to Grade 12s; the rest of the school has received no maths tuition since February.

Teachers at the school are pushed to breaking point, but they are afraid that their jobs will be under threat if they speak out. None wanted their names to appear here. One teacher said, "I can't be in two places at once. There's no order in this school. How can one teach when there is such chaos?"

Other teachers pointed to the effect a lack of teachers is having on learner morale. When school entails sitting in a classroom with no teacher for hours on end, it is not surprising that many learners opt to spend their time elsewhere.

It is not even possible for learners to teach themselves since there are not enough textbooks. This is in direct contradiction to the District Office's version of events; that there are "lots and lots and lots of books at Moshesh".

A visit to the school soon revealed that the textbook shortage continues. For Agricultural Sciences for example, Moshesh does not have a single textbook. The issue of textbooks was a crucial part of the settlement, and can be easily remedied, but yet again, the District Office has failed to do so.

One teacher said, "We were lead to believe that there would be change. We were expecting something to happen but nothing has been done. Moshesh is underperforming ... but the minister is underperforming! The president is underperforming! We are tired of talking."

Learners waiting outside exam venue at Moshesh.

When asked about the feelings of the learners towards their school, one learner, who did not wish to be identified, said, "We are crying. We don't see a future with our situation. We have seen only promises, but no change."

Many learners want to go on to further study and university. Such ambitions are being thrown on the scrapheap by a District Office and a Department which refuses to provide the relief that the settlement mandated. Numerous requests by the school to the Department have gone unheard. Disturbingly, there even appears to be attempts of censorship by the District. The head teacher was ordered to take down the news clippings surrounding the court case for Moshesh from her office.

One teacher concluded: "It is as if someone is deliberately dragging the school down from the [District] office."

The right to education is enshrined in the South African constitution. To be realised, it requires the cooperation of a large number of different actors. After all, surely the Department, District Office, teachers, governing bodies, parents and learners all want the same thing - decent education?

But this seems sadly forgotten in Moshesh, where the District Office has become not an enabler for education, but a blockage, and continues refusing to take responsibility. At a meeting with a District Official, he placed the blame for the continuing failure of Moshesh on the teachers, and even on the students themselves.

Moshesh has been an underperforming school for 17 years. Decisive action is urgently needed. As the Department and the District Office drag their heels, more learners slip through the net.

Olivia Murphy is an intern from the University of Sussex in the UK and a volunteer with the Equal Education Law Centre.