Dozens of primary school pupils in Middelburg were left stranded yesterday after their teachers were relocated to another institution in the area.

Parents arrived at the Middelburg Mine Combined School in Mpumalanga to find police and the principal removing the remaining furniture from classrooms to relocate to another school six kilometres away.

According to parents the school's grade 8 and 9 pupils were moved to a new school in January as part of a merger but grades R to 7 were initially set to relocate in January next year.

"On Monday morning, when they got there the principal was with the police moving the furniture telling some parents who were there that their children are being moved," said a parent, Loraine Monate. "What's surprising is that there was no parents meeting called to inform us and also there are no plans in place.

"Our children are now left with a school with no teachers and we haven't planned to have money to transport them."

Another parent, Sfiso Magagula, said the school governing body had let the parents down.

"We were not told of this development and the principal doesn't want to talk to us but says the approval comes from the provincial department of education. What kind of a department doesn't tell parents about this?" he said.

The parents said they would not let their children go to school because they don't have money for transport.

"How can we have money for transport when we are just told on the day of the move of the school. This is out of order. The department took a crazy decision which now leaves our children without school and they can't write mid-year exams," said Magagula.

Mpumalanga education spokesperson Jasper Zwane said the principal moved schooling and writing of the exams to another school because parents were protesting.

"The information at my disposal is that there was a community protest in the area where the school is located which threatened the ongoing midyear examination.

"For this reason, an interim arrangement was made urgently to ensure that examination is not affected by the protracted community protest.

"Ordinarily parents should have been consulted accordingly and this will be done in due course."