Teaching and learning came to a standstill at Moses Mabida High School in Mdantsane’s NU16 yesterday after vandals smashed almost all its windows overnight.A distressed principal Sivarama Pillai said around 200 windows had been broken in classrooms, the staff room and the girls’ bathroom.
There was further vandalism in the girls’ bathroom, he reported, where a pipe was ripped from one of the toilet tanks, resulting in water gushing from it. Nothing was stolen.
The night watchman, Makhuzeni Tukuta, said the culprits were two youths who had somehow managed to enter the school grounds in the early hours of Thursday morning.
“It was around one in the morning when I heard them. They started by throwing stones at my door and shouting my name before they started breaking the windows in the school,” Tukuta said.
“I couldn’t see them properly because it was dark and one of them was wearing a cap. They had bricks and picked up small stones and threw them at the windows. I couldn’t even phone the police because my phone is not working.”
Though the school has a perimeter fence, a locked gate and an alarm system, all were bypassed. “There are no gaps in the fence and the gate is still intact. Also, they didn’t hit any of the rooms where the alarm sensors are so the alarm didn’t go off.
“I suspect it could be someone from the community,” Pillai said.
When the Dispatch arrived the classrooms and staff room were still littered with broken glass.
Provincial education spokesman Malibongwe Mtima urged the principal to report it to the circuit manager. “That way he can claim from the school’s maintenance budget to repair the windows,” Mtima said.
Pillai said what it worse was all the gains he had begun to make since taking over three years ago.
“The pupils have Saturday classes for the first time ever. I organised this because I want them to excel, despite our limited resources,” he said. “I finally have the school governing body, teachers, pupils and the community behind me so I don't know what this is about.”
Hoodlums smash school windows
There was further vandalism in the girls’ bathroom, he reported, where a pipe was ripped from one of the toilet tanks, resulting in water gushing from it. Nothing was stolen.
The night watchman, Makhuzeni Tukuta, said the culprits were two youths who had somehow managed to enter the school grounds in the early hours of Thursday morning.
“It was around one in the morning when I heard them. They started by throwing stones at my door and shouting my name before they started breaking the windows in the school,” Tukuta said.
“I couldn’t see them properly because it was dark and one of them was wearing a cap. They had bricks and picked up small stones and threw them at the windows. I couldn’t even phone the police because my phone is not working.”
Though the school has a perimeter fence, a locked gate and an alarm system, all were bypassed. “There are no gaps in the fence and the gate is still intact. Also, they didn’t hit any of the rooms where the alarm sensors are so the alarm didn’t go off.
“I suspect it could be someone from the community,” Pillai said.
When the Dispatch arrived the classrooms and staff room were still littered with broken glass.
Provincial education spokesman Malibongwe Mtima urged the principal to report it to the circuit manager. “That way he can claim from the school’s maintenance budget to repair the windows,” Mtima said.
Pillai said what it worse was all the gains he had begun to make since taking over three years ago.
“The pupils have Saturday classes for the first time ever. I organised this because I want them to excel, despite our limited resources,” he said. “I finally have the school governing body, teachers, pupils and the community behind me so I don't know what this is about.”
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