Community urged to guard school property in Alexandra
ALEXANDRA – Johannesburg East District director for education, Mnyamezeli Ndevu wants communities living around school precincts to guard schools against criminals.
Communities living around schools have been urged to jealously guard school property and report any suspicious activities to authorities.
This call was made by Gauteng Department of Education’s Johannesburg East District director, Mnyamezeli Ndevu when he addressed education stakeholders at the formation of the Alexandra Education Stakeholder Forum. The forum is a body designed to tackle the many problems which bedevil the education sector in the township.
His plea comes in the wake of numerous burglaries which have hit schools in the past few months, in which more than R100 million has been lost at Alex High School alone following the theft of computer equipment and tablets.
Burglaries and thefts have also been reported at KwaBhekilanga Secondary School and Emfundisweni Primary School, where thousands of rands worth of computer equipment were also targeted at both schools.
“We cannot go on like this. Something has to be done and I am sure this forum we’re forming here today will go a long way towards addressing this untenable situation at our schools. I also urge communities living around the schools to be vigilant at all times and guard these schools jealously, and also report any suspicious characters and activities around them,” Ndevu told the guests at the meeting held at Sankopano Centre, which was attended by various stakeholders.
Read: Alex schoolchildren come tops in Fluor Annual Friendly Competition.
Notable in their absence at the meeting despite an invitation being extended to them, were police representatives from Alexandra Police Station, who are considered to be one of the major stakeholders of the new forum.
Besides the burglaries and thefts at schools, Ndevu said other major issues which bedevil schools include late coming, low matric pass rates, drugs and other substance abuse among scholars.
“I trust this forum will address these issue head-on in the hope of coming up with potential solutions, especially the issue of substance abuse that is ravaging our young people,” said Ndevu, who also disclosed that he had a son with a drug problem.
Meanwhile, Ndevu also said that Bovet Primary School had been turned into a full ICT school to cater for primary schoolchildren, while Alex High School would soon be made a full ICT school for secondary schoolchildren.
What are your views on the theft of more than R100 million worth of computer equipment and tablets at Alex High School? WhatsApp your views on 079 439 5345.
