Brand new classrooms and an ablution facility built by the US embassy for an East London township school have done wonders for the school.
The new facilities brought much relief to the overcrowded classrooms at Mzamowethu Public School in Mzamomomhle and boosted the the school’s matric pass rate from a 51% pass in 2016 to 96% last year.
The new R4.4-million facility was built next to the existing school and consists of eight classrooms that feature an adjourning store room and a large ablution facility with a toilet for disabled pupils, a feature that was rare in township schools.
On Tuesday, excitement filled the dusty township streets as officials from the US Mission to South Africa drove into the township to officially hand over the newly renovated school.
Before the renovations, Mzamowethu, the only school in the township, had 25 classrooms to accommodate more than 1500 Grade R to Grade 12 pupils, with some classrooms having to accommodate more than 100 pupils.
The deputy principal officer at the US consulate in Cape Town, Ellen Masi, said the school’s plight was brought to their attention by the Department of Education in 2014 and they responded as part of the mission’s humanitarian component.
“The Ministry of Education requested support with the expansion of the school and the US Mission’s Office of Defence Cooperation worked together with the ministry and the school to address these concerns. “At the time, the school had limited capacity to service the students from the community, requiring students to be bused to other schools, ” said Masi.
The project manager, Mark Dold, said construction of the new structure started in February last year and was completed in November.
The school’s principal, Mxolisi Mgqibelo, said the additional classrooms had had a hugely positive impact on the school, including that the matric pass had almost doubled.
“After construction was completed we moved our Grade 12 learners into the new classrooms, where they had study camps and for the first time they could concentrate on their work and not worry about being crammed on top of each other. This had a huge impact on the pass rate.”
Mgqibelo said the plan was to separate the pupils by moving grades 8 to 12 pupils to new premises, while the grades R to 7 pupils would remain at the old school. — arethal@dispatch.co.za