Officials from the national Department of Basic Education (DBE) have visited Mdeni Senior Secondary School in Middledrift after images of an “unusual” protest by the pupils went viral on social media.
The protest for classrooms, which saw pupils sitting on their chairs in the middle of the R63 road between Alice and Middledrift, took place last Wednesday. The officials from the department visited the school on Friday.
The spokesman for the department, Elijah Mhlanga, said they went to the school to establish the circumstances that led to the pupils’ actions.
“The images of the learners on the freeway shocked the department and we needed to see what could be done to provide assistance to the school,” said Mhlanga.
“We were able to see the work that has been done to address the plight of the pupils and teachers at the school. We observed that the school was in a bad state but we were encouraged to see that some construction work was under way.”
SGB member Mzwamadoda Hulu said the protest was initiated by parents fed up with the bad state of the school and the department’s failure to pay the shortfall amount to a contractor who built them prefab classrooms next to the old school.
The school, which was built by the villagers in 1976, only has five classrooms and almost all have collapsed.
Hulu said in 2015, through an NGO, the school received R1.5-million from the National Lottery Board for the construction of prefab classrooms.
“We appointed a construction company to provide us with the temporary structures. By the time construction started, the quotation had gone up due to inflation, so we had a shortfall of R550000 and asked the department for assistance.”
Hulu said the department agreed to assist with the shortfall, but failed to make the payment, which resulted in the contractor putting a halt on the construction and withholding the keys to the prefab classrooms.
A few hours after the protest last Wednesday, provincial education superintendent-general Themba Kojana and the contractor reached an agreement and the keys were handed over to the school.
Mhlanga said parents will meet next week to take a decision about the demolition of the old building as the plan was to build a new school.
‘Unusual’ protest spurs department into action
The protest for classrooms, which saw pupils sitting on their chairs in the middle of the R63 road between Alice and Middledrift, took place last Wednesday. The officials from the department visited the school on Friday.
The spokesman for the department, Elijah Mhlanga, said they went to the school to establish the circumstances that led to the pupils’ actions.
“The images of the learners on the freeway shocked the department and we needed to see what could be done to provide assistance to the school,” said Mhlanga.
“We were able to see the work that has been done to address the plight of the pupils and teachers at the school. We observed that the school was in a bad state but we were encouraged to see that some construction work was under way.”
SGB member Mzwamadoda Hulu said the protest was initiated by parents fed up with the bad state of the school and the department’s failure to pay the shortfall amount to a contractor who built them prefab classrooms next to the old school.
The school, which was built by the villagers in 1976, only has five classrooms and almost all have collapsed.
Hulu said in 2015, through an NGO, the school received R1.5-million from the National Lottery Board for the construction of prefab classrooms.
“We appointed a construction company to provide us with the temporary structures. By the time construction started, the quotation had gone up due to inflation, so we had a shortfall of R550000 and asked the department for assistance.”
Hulu said the department agreed to assist with the shortfall, but failed to make the payment, which resulted in the contractor putting a halt on the construction and withholding the keys to the prefab classrooms.
A few hours after the protest last Wednesday, provincial education superintendent-general Themba Kojana and the contractor reached an agreement and the keys were handed over to the school.
Mhlanga said parents will meet next week to take a decision about the demolition of the old building as the plan was to build a new school.
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