Support Observatory Junior School in making their parking area safe for pupils

Observatory Junior School is looking for public support to repair and upgrade its parking area, which has deteriorated in recent years.

Observatory Junior School, which is more than 45 years old, faces safety risks in its parking area for teachers, visitors, and pupils who must walk through the space after being dropped off by transport.

Principal Sofeya Moonsamy said it is especially unsafe for pupils and motorists in the rainy season when huge puddles of water fill up in different areas during rain.

“The parking area is totally uneven, the surface has a mixture of gravel, stones, and pieces of rock and metal jutting out as well, making it dangerous if learners fall as they walk or run to their transport,” she said.

Ms Moonsamy said that they have used many bags of cement to fill up huge potholes, uneven ground, or humps, but it has washed out over time.

Ms Moonsamy said they would like their school to have the entire parking area graded out evenly with heavy machinery, removing dangerous rock and metal pieces.

“It could be treated, upgraded by tarring or paving the area for safety,” she said.

Ms Moonsamy said their school is a Quintile 5 school in the suburb of Observatory and therefore receives a smaller subsidy compared to Quintile 1 schools in informal settlements, which may receive more support.

Around 90 percent of the school’s pupils, she said, come from informal settlements where they commute and use transport.  Apart from their school receiving the minimum Western Cape Education Department (WCED) subsidy, they also try to raise additional funds through fundraising events like civvies day, concerts, and food fairs.

Ms Moonsamy said they had professionals assess the repairs and upgrades needed to fix the parking area.

“Quotes received from various individuals and companies amount to a minimum of R500 000 to R1000 000 to resurface the whole area. This is unaffordable for the school to raise these funds alone,” she said.

WCED spokesperson, Bronagh Hammond, said schools can do upgrades through the collection of school fees and through requesting the department in terms of repairs and maintenance.

“There are many competing priorities in the province concerning maintenance. This is further constrained by budget cuts,” she said.

Ms Hammond said their department would give more priority to maintenance if it is for more pressing safety aspects, like fixing damaged roofs after a storm, or asbestos-containing components.  

“Many schools undertake fundraising initiatives to make further improvements to their school, should funding not be available for their request by the WCED,” she said.

Observatory Junior School will host its next fundraising musical concert at 17 Clifton Terrace, Observatory, on Saturday, September 13 and Saturday, September 20, from 10am to 1pm.

Pre-sold tickets cost R70 a person, while tickets at the door cost R80.

“Money collected from this concert will go towards starting this project. As it is such an expensive project, we are thinking of doing the renovations in phases,” said Ms Moonsamy.

To support or sponsor their parking area project or support the school’s fundraising concert, call the school’s bursar, Dorcas Tshuma, at 021 447 1495 or email obsjbursar@gmail.com