School hit by fire still not fixed

Four years after six classrooms were completely destroyed in a fire, staff and pupils at Butterworth High School are still waiting for them to be replaced. 

The classrooms at the school went up in flames along with the staff room and male toilets in September 2012.

Principal Chris Mdingi said the results of an investigation showed the fire was caused by an electrical fault.

The incident was immediately reported to the department of education but four years later, numerous requests for the classrooms to be fixed have been ignored.

“The response we got from the department was that we are not on the list of schools that need fixing because the school was not dilapidated.

“We cannot accept the department’s reason for not fixing the school, especially after R500-million meant for school infrastructure in the province was returned to National Treasury after it was not spent this past financial year,” he said.

The principal said that since the fire at the school – once one of the best-performing schools in the region – pupils’ results had dropped.

The school caters for more than 1300 Grade R to Grade 12 pupils.

“After the fire there has been a drop in our pass rate.

“We now have to cram 60 to 70 pupils into one classroom.

“We have also divided our school hall into two classrooms to make up for the shortage,” said Mdingi.

Education spokesman Malibongwe Mtima had not responded to questions at the time of writing, and said he was unable to get hold of the relevant officials for answers.