SOWETAN | Electricity in schools a human rights issue

As SA marksHuman Rights Day, a troubling contradiction unfolds in Gauteng: the very institutions meant to nurture the country’s future are being plunged into darkness. Electricityis no longer a luxury in schools; it is foundational to modern teaching and learning. From powering classrooms and computer labs to enabling digital learning platforms, electricity underpins the daily functioning of any credible education system.

Without electricity, lessons are disrupted, pupils are disadvantaged, and educators are forced to operate in conditions that undermine their effectiveness. The situation becomes even more dire as winter approaches, when shorter days and colder conditions will further erode already fragile learning environments. What makes this crisis particularly indefensible is that many of the affected schools are no-fee schools serving some of the poorest communities.

Expecting these schools to shoulder the burden of rising municipal costs exposes a fundamental misalignment in governance. These schools are not designed to generate revenue; their mandate is to educate. Shifting the responsibility of municipal debt onto them is both unrealistic and unjust.

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The ripple effects are already visible. Schools such as KwaThema Skills School of Specialisation and Boitumelong Secondary School in Tembisa – once emblematic of Gauteng’s ambitions for a digitised, future-ready education system – now stand as symbols of regression. It is deeply ironic that a site once celebrated as a “classroom of the future” now faces operational paralysis due to a R1m debt.

This crisis also highlights a broader systemic failure: the gap between state subsidies and the real cost of running schools. Even schools that attempt to engage municipalities through payment arrangements find themselves trapped in a cycle of insufficient funding and escalating debt. This is not a failure of school management but of policy and prioritisation.

Human Rights Day should serve as more than a symbolic observance. It must be a moment of accountability. The Gauteng education department and affected municipalities must act decisively to resolve these debts and establish a sustainable framework that shields schools from such disruptions in the future.

Children cannot be collateral damage in bureaucratic disputes. Ensuring uninterrupted access to education is not optional – it is a constitutional imperative.

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