The MEC for Education in North West, Viola Motsumi, has provided four mobile classrooms at Tlhakajeng Primary School in Kraaipan village near Khunwanana as an interim measure to the classroom shortage due to fire damage.
This comes after the community members in 2019 who were intending to boycott elections due to service delivery-related issues set the school on fire and damaged six classrooms.
Swiftly attending to the matter, Motsumi has instructed officials to provide more classrooms for the primary school as winter loomed.
‘’We cannot condemn learners for the acts committed by the adults. These learners suffered for a long time without a proper school in this area. Now we are approaching winter, and we cannot expose them to the cold,’’ she said.
Motsumi vowed to build the school eight classrooms, an administration block and ablution facilities this year. ‘’Next year, we are going to ensure that we improve their sporting grounds,’’ she added.
Furthermore, she warned and encouraged community members to refrain from destroying public property. Some of the community members who participated in the protest were arrested by the police.
‘’I further wish to condemn those communities who embark on destroying public properties. We have a huge backlog of building schools in this province, and burning them causes the department to prioritise the same schools again. I am appealing to our communities to desist from such an unfavourable act,’’ Motsumi said.
Previously, the school was furnished with three mobile classrooms immediately after the torching which made it a total of seven mobile classrooms to alleviate overcrowding.
kamogelo.moichela@inl.co.za
Current Affairs