COMMUNITY members of Puana village near Zeerust, North West, are threatening to take the education department to court if it does not reopen a local school.
Yesterday the village chief, Kofo Mokgatlhe, called the community and legal aid officials to his kraal to discuss the way forward so they could get their school back.
Puana Primary School was first closed in July 2010 after the department of education's concerns that it had a low enrolment.
At the time of closure the school had 117 learners instead of the required 200.
After its closure the children were taken to the nearby Gareosenye Primary School 2km away.
Parents became worried by the distance the children had to walk every day.
To add to their ordeal, muthi murders are allegedly rife in the village and pupils have to cross a dangerous river that overflows during heavy rains.
Advocate Nzame Skibi of the Mafikeng Legal Justice Centre said 117 learners were enough for the school to operate.
"We want to see how much support we have ... if there is enough support from parents, we hope the department of education will consider reopening the school," Skibi said.
He said he was going to write a letter to the department demanding that they reopen the school within 10 working days.
The building is now used for an Abet school. It has 11 classrooms, a computer lab, a staff room and toilets.
Angry residents said they could not take the pressure anymore. They said the department had misled them.
"They promised that if they closed the school they would provide transport for learners but that has not happened," one resident said.
Chief Mokgatlhe said they had built the school themselves in 1961. He said the community had to donate money to build the school from scratch.
But the school's principal, London Khunou, , said the school had operated with too few learners for a long time. He said 117 learners enrolled in 2009, but in June they were only left with 67 pupils since others had moved to Gareosenye.
One resident, Maabea Mokgatlhe, 68, who had two grandchildren in Puana, expressed the hope that the school would be reopened.
"The reopening of this school will benefit the community, " she said.
Selina Segaetsho, 59, who also had a child at Puana, said the school was an asset to the community.
"It's sort of a landmark, it's a tragedy to experience the closure."
Departmental spokesman Gershwin Chuenyane said they would first have to conduct investigations before commenting on the matter.
Residents threaten to take state to court over closed school
COMMUNITY members of Puana village near Zeerust, North West, are threatening to take the education department to court if it does not reopen a local school.
Yesterday the village chief, Kofo Mokgatlhe, called the community and legal aid officials to his kraal to discuss the way forward so they could get their school back.
Puana Primary School was first closed in July 2010 after the department of education's concerns that it had a low enrolment.
At the time of closure the school had 117 learners instead of the required 200.
After its closure the children were taken to the nearby Gareosenye Primary School 2km away.
Parents became worried by the distance the children had to walk every day.
To add to their ordeal, muthi murders are allegedly rife in the village and pupils have to cross a dangerous river that overflows during heavy rains.
Advocate Nzame Skibi of the Mafikeng Legal Justice Centre said 117 learners were enough for the school to operate.
"We want to see how much support we have ... if there is enough support from parents, we hope the department of education will consider reopening the school," Skibi said.
He said he was going to write a letter to the department demanding that they reopen the school within 10 working days.
The building is now used for an Abet school. It has 11 classrooms, a computer lab, a staff room and toilets.
Angry residents said they could not take the pressure anymore. They said the department had misled them.
"They promised that if they closed the school they would provide transport for learners but that has not happened," one resident said.
Chief Mokgatlhe said they had built the school themselves in 1961. He said the community had to donate money to build the school from scratch.
But the school's principal, London Khunou, , said the school had operated with too few learners for a long time. He said 117 learners enrolled in 2009, but in June they were only left with 67 pupils since others had moved to Gareosenye.
One resident, Maabea Mokgatlhe, 68, who had two grandchildren in Puana, expressed the hope that the school would be reopened.
"The reopening of this school will benefit the community, " she said.
Selina Segaetsho, 59, who also had a child at Puana, said the school was an asset to the community.
"It's sort of a landmark, it's a tragedy to experience the closure."
Departmental spokesman Gershwin Chuenyane said they would first have to conduct investigations before commenting on the matter.
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