With an enrolment of just three pupils in 2013, Mancazana Senior Primary School in Mankazana Village outside Alice was closed.
But aggrieved parents who had fought hard to keep the school open said it was the only one in the area catering for Grades 4 to 7.
With the village situated halfway between Alice and Fort Beaufort, parents will now be forced to relocate to either town to get their children into school, which will mean additional costs.
Many of the parents are seasonal workers at local citrus farms and rely on child support grants as the only means of income for the rest of the year.
School governing body chairman Isaac Williams said the school opened 20 years ago when the village was first established.
It acted as a feeder school for Mancazana Lower Primary School, which caters for Grades R to 4.
Williams said the low enrolment numbers were a result of parents relocating to the city to seek better employment.
The only teacher employed at the school last year taught one Grade 6 pupil and two Grade 7 pupils.
“We had several meetings with the education MEC over this issue we did all in our power to keep the school open because we want our children to get an education,” said Williams yesterday.
“We didn’t even know that the school would close. The principal told us he had been temporarily placed somewhere else so he couldn’t answer our questions.
“I have a child in Grade R this year and I was hoping that when she finishes she will move on to the other school but that won’t happen now.”
Mancazana is one of 310 schools earmarked by the provincial education department for closure as part of the school rationalisation programme.
The programme seeks to close all non-viable schools with low enrolment numbers.
Education department spokesman Loyiso Pulumani said: “There are forms that will be handed out by the department for principals and SGBs to sign to agree to the closure. Those forms are out already.”
He said 137 schools in the province had zero pupils, while others only have three or four pupils.
The school’s secretary, Collin du Plessis, was considering relocating to Fort Beaufort so his son could continue to receive an education.
Williams said Mancazana Lower Primary School could be the next to close as it only had an enrolment of 17 pupils this year. — zisandan@dispatch.co.za
Rural school shut down after poor pupil enrolment
But aggrieved parents who had fought hard to keep the school open said it was the only one in the area catering for Grades 4 to 7.
With the village situated halfway between Alice and Fort Beaufort, parents will now be forced to relocate to either town to get their children into school, which will mean additional costs.
Many of the parents are seasonal workers at local citrus farms and rely on child support grants as the only means of income for the rest of the year.
School governing body chairman Isaac Williams said the school opened 20 years ago when the village was first established.
It acted as a feeder school for Mancazana Lower Primary School, which caters for Grades R to 4.
Williams said the low enrolment numbers were a result of parents relocating to the city to seek better employment.
The only teacher employed at the school last year taught one Grade 6 pupil and two Grade 7 pupils.
“We had several meetings with the education MEC over this issue we did all in our power to keep the school open because we want our children to get an education,” said Williams yesterday.
“We didn’t even know that the school would close. The principal told us he had been temporarily placed somewhere else so he couldn’t answer our questions.
“I have a child in Grade R this year and I was hoping that when she finishes she will move on to the other school but that won’t happen now.”
Mancazana is one of 310 schools earmarked by the provincial education department for closure as part of the school rationalisation programme.
The programme seeks to close all non-viable schools with low enrolment numbers.
Education department spokesman Loyiso Pulumani said: “There are forms that will be handed out by the department for principals and SGBs to sign to agree to the closure. Those forms are out already.”
He said 137 schools in the province had zero pupils, while others only have three or four pupils.
The school’s secretary, Collin du Plessis, was considering relocating to Fort Beaufort so his son could continue to receive an education.
Williams said Mancazana Lower Primary School could be the next to close as it only had an enrolment of 17 pupils this year. — zisandan@dispatch.co.za
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