THE Limpopo department of education has approved the establishment of the Selowe primary, near Senwabarwana, (Bochum), where children have been learning under trees.

The department said yesterday that the school had been approved for January 2013. It said road improvement discussions were under way with the local municipality.

The department said it was not feasible to build a school until the necessary infrastructure was in place.

It was responding to a Sunday Times report about children being taught under trees in Limpopo.

According to the article, 14 teachers at Selowe Primary School in Silvermine, 120km from Polokwane in Limpopo, taught 165 children without receiving any remuneration. The school had no classrooms, with lessons conducted under marula trees and a single shack.

There were no textbooks, stationery, chairs, desks or toilets.

The school was reportedly established after parents decided not to send their children to schools in two neighbouring villages after pupils were nearly raped on their way to school.

The newspaper reported that authorities offered to provide transport to two state schools in neighbouring villages, but parents rejected the offer.

Local residents showed correspondence with the education department from October 2010 onwards, in which an official supported the idea of establishing a new school.

According to the newspaper, the department said resources were not available to establish a new school.

This was contained in minutes of a meeting between principal Evans Seanego and the department in April.

Department spokesman Pat Kgomo said they received an application for the establishment of the school from Silvermine residents on September 9 last year.

A feasibility study was conducted on November 3 in the area, and showed a need for a school in the village.

Kgomo said for a school to be established, the department needed to plan for provision of infrastructure, water and sanitation, learner-teacher support materials, teachers, and norms and standards.