MTHATHA – Parents from Ngoswana Primary School in Mthatha want answers from the Department of Education regarding a promise that was allegedly made last year that their school would receive temporary structures.
The chairperson of the School Governing Body (SGB), Nocawe Mxinwa, said the school was started in 1992 by parents after they realised that their children were struggling to access education.
“Each homestead brought mud blocks, accompanied by a donation of R100. The main problem was that our children used to start school when they were already old and ended up dropping out. By building this school, we were trying to avoid that. We managed to build two blocks. The first one might collapse at any time due to its poor condition. The second one was renovated after we received sponsorship from Build It. It is now built with cement blocks,” said Mxinwa.
She added that the department promised the school temporary structures, but nothing has happened to date.
According to her, parents are even planning to use money from their own pockets, but they are struggling because they depend on social and pension grants.
“There is an official who visited our school and informed us that it would be closed. We said we cannot allow that because we built this school with a purpose. If we allow that to happen, our children will be forced to cross rivers and travel long distances to Ntlukuhla and Baziya Primary Schools,” she said.
She further stated that they want the school to continue operating because if the department closes it, their children would suffer.
The spokesperson for the Department of Education, Malibongwe Mtima, said the school has a low enrolment, which makes it not viable to operate.
“We expect the district to go there and provide direction on whether the school should be realigned, merged, or closed. We are waiting for the district to inform us of their decision, as they are responsible for making it,” said Mtima.
He added that the department is awaiting the outcome of a visit to the school before a final decision is made.
