Child dying in toilet amounts to his murder

WE hear almost daily about how pupils around South Africa are being, or have been, disadvantaged by our educational departments. How pupils are forced to sit in the boiling sun as there are no classrooms for them at their schools, or that their schools have been vandalised and stripped by thieves, or how the continual shortage of teachers does not allow for quality education. This list goes on and on.

But last week I read of an incident which beats all the failures of the education departments and that is a Grade R little boy (aged between four and five) who went to the toilet at his school and died. How did he die?

He sat on the seat part of a pit toilet, fell in and drowned in pee and poo! I have tears in my eyes while writing this.

He was only found several hours later. I picture my two girls who were in Grade R several years ago, and I can feel the pain this poor little boy's parents in Limpopo must have.

How, in the name of civilisation, and in the name of God, can our Education Department allow this? This is tantamount to murder, child abuse and is pure evil.

Will someone be held responsible? Sadly, highly unlikely.

Gordon Upton, Port Elizabeth