×

We've got news for you.

Register on SowetanLIVE at no cost to receive newsletters, read exclusive articles & more.
Register now

Dilly-dallying over school

DEPLORABLE: Pupils at Sikhulisile Primaruy School look out through a broken classroom window. Pic. McKeed Kotlolo. © Sowetan.
DEPLORABLE: Pupils at Sikhulisile Primaruy School look out through a broken classroom window. Pic. McKeed Kotlolo. © Sowetan.

McKeed Kotlolo

McKeed Kotlolo

No one wants to take responsibility for the building of a primary school in Ekangala, Mpumalanga.

It is presently operating from broken down tin houses.

This year is the third since Sikhulisile Primary School in Block F, Ekangala, has been operating from overcrowded shacks with leaking roofs and smashed windowpanes.

In summer the classrooms are very hot and on rainy days they get flooded. In winter many schoolchildren stay away because of the cold conditions that cause illnesses.

Sowetan visited the school yesterday after it received complaints from parents. Our team found the situation worse than what had been described by parents and a concerned education official.

The 3m by 4m square principal's office, with books scattered all over the floor, was leaking as a result of big holes in the corrugated iron roof.

The noticeboard was made of ordinary brown hardboard.

Staff at the school declined to comment out of fear of being reprimanded by the provincial Department of Education. They referred all enquiries to the district office.

Hlahla Ngwenya, spokesman for MEC for education, Siphosezwe Masango, confirmed the school was budgeted for in the 2005-06 financial year, but the Gauteng Department of Education should comment on matters regarding Sikhulisile.

He said all schools in Ekangala were transferred to the GDE and it was the department's duty to continue with the project from the point at which Mpumalanga had stopped. The GDE confirmed that it was to take more than 17 schools in Mpumalanga, including Sikhulisile.

Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.

Speech Bubbles

Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.