Heavy rains followed by fierce winds caused the collapse of the wall of a mud classroom in Nyandeni Junior Secondary in Libode.The incident took place early yesterday morning, luckily before pupils had arrived.
The affected classroom is used by Grade 3 pupils. Had they been present when the wall fell, the results would have been tragic.
A teacher at the school, Siyabulela Nqeketho, said he was informed by a security guard about the collapse.
He said the incident was not a surprise as the mud classrooms had been there for more than 40 years.
“The walls were built by the community a long time ago. Even the late King Vulindlela Ndamase attended school here, that tells you that these classrooms have been around for a while.
“We have been cautious of using these classrooms but we had no choice because we do not have extra classrooms.
“This one has had cracks for a while, and when it is windy we would take the pupils out to other classrooms because we do not want to take chances,” said Nqeketho.
The remaining mud classrooms also face possible collapse and pose a great danger to the pupils.
Nqeketho said the school had written a letter to the department of education seeking urgent intervention.
“We are hoping for an interim solution while we wait for a permanent replacement for the classroom.
“We would highly appreciate it if the department could give us a prefabricated structure so as to move the Grade 3 class to its own classroom.
“Currently we have a teacher for Grade 3 and Grade 4 in one classroom and that is not good for the children. They will not be able to hear anything,” said Nqeketho.
School governing body chairman Goodman Baliwe said the school would approach the department for a permanent solution.
“We have discussed the need for renovating the school before but we had not done anything about it. This pushes us to seek urgent help from the department.
“We thank God that there were no children in the classroom when the wall collapsed. If they had been there, the results would have been tragic.”
Education department spokesman Loyiso Pulumani said the department would send officials to assess the damage.
“Our strategic appointments of three senior managers qualified in the Built Environment discipline over the past six months is specifically meant to enable a rapid response capacity to respond to these emergencies,” Pulumani said.
Classroom wall comes crashing down at school
The incident took place early yesterday morning, luckily before pupils had arrived.
The affected classroom is used by Grade 3 pupils. Had they been present when the wall fell, the results would have been tragic.
A teacher at the school, Siyabulela Nqeketho, said he was informed by a security guard about the collapse.
He said the incident was not a surprise as the mud classrooms had been there for more than 40 years.
“The walls were built by the community a long time ago. Even the late King Vulindlela Ndamase attended school here, that tells you that these classrooms have been around for a while.
“We have been cautious of using these classrooms but we had no choice because we do not have extra classrooms.
“This one has had cracks for a while, and when it is windy we would take the pupils out to other classrooms because we do not want to take chances,” said Nqeketho.
The remaining mud classrooms also face possible collapse and pose a great danger to the pupils.
Nqeketho said the school had written a letter to the department of education seeking urgent intervention.
“We are hoping for an interim solution while we wait for a permanent replacement for the classroom.
“We would highly appreciate it if the department could give us a prefabricated structure so as to move the Grade 3 class to its own classroom.
“Currently we have a teacher for Grade 3 and Grade 4 in one classroom and that is not good for the children. They will not be able to hear anything,” said Nqeketho.
School governing body chairman Goodman Baliwe said the school would approach the department for a permanent solution.
“We have discussed the need for renovating the school before but we had not done anything about it. This pushes us to seek urgent help from the department.
“We thank God that there were no children in the classroom when the wall collapsed. If they had been there, the results would have been tragic.”
Education department spokesman Loyiso Pulumani said the department would send officials to assess the damage.
“Our strategic appointments of three senior managers qualified in the Built Environment discipline over the past six months is specifically meant to enable a rapid response capacity to respond to these emergencies,” Pulumani said.
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