Nearly 200 pupils at a rural Ngqeleni school are being taught in six damaged classrooms without roofs.
This is despite provincial education authorities promising urgent intervention after the roofs were blown away by gale-force winds late last month.
The Daily Dispatch reported at the time how only two classrooms were left intact ain Dangeni village after the winds hit the village on September 27 and in the process blew away rooftops of at least six classrooms.
When a Dispatch team visited the school yesterday it discovered that almost 200 pupils were being taught inside the damaged classrooms.
Pupils told the paper that they were fed up because it was cold and that sometimes their books blew away as there was no protection from the wind.
“When it rains, our books get wet and we cannot even sit on the chairs. We end up shivering all day when it is cold which affects our concentration,” said Grade 9 pupil Sinentlahla Ndzundzu.
He claimed as a result some of his schoolmates bunked school.
Grade 2 pupil Amkelwa Ndamase, 7, said they would welcome it if government could provide them with zinc shacks which they could use as makeshift classrooms.
Staff at the school estimated the damage to the six classrooms to be around R600000.
Provincial education spokesman Mali Mtima was previously quoted in the Dispatch as saying a team of officials had been sent to the school to assess the damage and that the department, based on their report, would ascertain whether to fix the damaged classrooms or provide temporary relief in the form of prefab structures.
But yesterday Mzongwana principal Sonny Ngcengce told the paper that not a single official had set foot on the school premises.
He also told the Dispatch that some teachers were so demoralised by the situation they were refusing to go into class.
School governing body chairman Mahlabisela Tukuzani said the department did not care for the school because it was based in a remote area and was started by villagers.
When approached on the matter yesterday, Mtima claimed the department was unable to send officials because the schools had closed for the September holidays. He promised that they would send a team now that schools had re-opened, but was unable to say when.
Rural pupils forced to learn in classrooms with no roof
This is despite provincial education authorities promising urgent intervention after the roofs were blown away by gale-force winds late last month.
The Daily Dispatch reported at the time how only two classrooms were left intact ain Dangeni village after the winds hit the village on September 27 and in the process blew away rooftops of at least six classrooms.
When a Dispatch team visited the school yesterday it discovered that almost 200 pupils were being taught inside the damaged classrooms.
Pupils told the paper that they were fed up because it was cold and that sometimes their books blew away as there was no protection from the wind.
“When it rains, our books get wet and we cannot even sit on the chairs. We end up shivering all day when it is cold which affects our concentration,” said Grade 9 pupil Sinentlahla Ndzundzu.
He claimed as a result some of his schoolmates bunked school.
Grade 2 pupil Amkelwa Ndamase, 7, said they would welcome it if government could provide them with zinc shacks which they could use as makeshift classrooms.
Staff at the school estimated the damage to the six classrooms to be around R600000.
Provincial education spokesman Mali Mtima was previously quoted in the Dispatch as saying a team of officials had been sent to the school to assess the damage and that the department, based on their report, would ascertain whether to fix the damaged classrooms or provide temporary relief in the form of prefab structures.
But yesterday Mzongwana principal Sonny Ngcengce told the paper that not a single official had set foot on the school premises.
He also told the Dispatch that some teachers were so demoralised by the situation they were refusing to go into class.
School governing body chairman Mahlabisela Tukuzani said the department did not care for the school because it was based in a remote area and was started by villagers.
When approached on the matter yesterday, Mtima claimed the department was unable to send officials because the schools had closed for the September holidays. He promised that they would send a team now that schools had re-opened, but was unable to say when.
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