Chalkboards have become the latest targets of the vandalism plague at schools in Nelson Mandela Bay’s northern areas.
The latest incident took place at Greenville Primary School, where brazen thieves stripped classrooms of almost 30 chalkboards.
The chalkboards are the Bethelsdorp school’s primary means of educating its pupils.
Teaching and learning at the school are now compromised — Greenville has neither the money to replenish its photocopier with ink cartridges, nor a single sheet of paper.
To make matters worse, it cannot use projectors as a teaching aid because its classrooms have no electricity supply.
The school’s principal, Frederick Joseph, believes the thieves struck during the long weekend.
“This is sabotage and it is really, really bad,” he said.
“The people responsible for the theft steal our property and then sell it for scrap, not thinking of the serious repercussions it holds for our teachers and pupils.”
Thefts such as these have a devastating ripple effect.
A teacher from another northern areas school that has also been targeted said staff members often took money from their own pockets “away from our own families, whether it be [for] stationary [or] adding some educational resources to our class or office”.
“And yet the community allows this to happen and when it does, will not provide information [on] who the thieves are or protect our school,” the woman wrote on The Herald’s Facebook page in response to a post about the Greenville Primary theft.
“I ask you all. Stand up, take responsibility and help us provide an educational and safe environment, where we no longer question whose classroom or area is next.
“How do we teach them to dream while they learn?
“How do we guide them to rise above their circumstances and be great?”
The teacher’s comments sum up our own sentiments — why are communities allowing this scourge to continue destroying their schools?
Surely someone knows who is responsible, especially when almost 30 chalkboards — hardly small items — disappear.
We have said it before and cannot say it often enough — it is up to neighbouring communities to ensure that their schools provide children with an optimal environment for learning by keeping an eye out and reporting thieves and vandals to the authorities.
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