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TEACHING and learning taking place in unpleasant and cramped conditions has prompted parents and teachers from Sikulwazi Secondary in Msinga, outside Greytown, to approach the KZN Department of Education to ask for help to build a school.
The school has an enrolment of more than 140 pupils from Grade 8 to Grade 11, with pupils being taught in Parkhome Modular Units. The school opened in 2017 and the number of pupils has been growing since then. Next year, the school will have its first Grade 12 pupils, but they have no classroom to accommodate them. Grade 11 pupils are forced to share a tin classroom with other pupils in lower grades.
Herds of stray cows and goats roam the school premises — leaving dung in the classrooms which pupils clean up in the morning.
A teacher at the school Vuyani Mathe said: “The principal has approached the Department of Education and we are patiently waiting with hope that one day they will rescue us from these conditions and we will have a good school with a suitable environment for teaching and learning. The school is pleading for new infrastructure as the current Parkhome units are now old. We need five classrooms and a staff room as we do not even have a staff room for teachers.”
The teaching and learning in the modular units started in 2017 and the insufficient infrastructure at the school forces teachers and pupils to use dilapidated mud toilets built near the school.
According to parents, the school is in dire need of improvement.
“We are looking for any help that can improve the condition of Sikulwazi Secondary. A sponsor in fencing, toilets, kitchen, classrooms, staff room and furniture will be much appreciated.
“The school improvements and upgrades will allow the implementation of quality education and a good environment for teaching and learning. We strive for a bright future for our pupils, therefore we need someone who can really invest in change. We even plea for any spare textbooks, past papers and resources,” Mathe said.
