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Vuwani is back in the spotlight, but this time it's for all the right reasons.
A R3.5m maths and science centre, proposed by Chief Nthumeni Masia of the Masia Traditional Council, is set to be established at Masia Primary School.
"Vuwani and surrounding areas need to be developed, and education is the first step in doing so," said Masia.
He said part of the aim for establishing the centre was for school children in the area to forget about the arson attacks which engulfed Vuwani during violent protests in 2016 and focus on building a future in maths and science.
READ: Vuwani school burnt in fresh protest over boundary line
SAME Foundation, which is leading the initiative to gather the R3.5m needed to build the centre, said the project would be a success and would bring about much needed academic resources to the area.
"The mandate of the foundation is to provide quality education to all," said the foundation's spokesperson, Tyron Pols.
"We have been in existence for 15 years, and we are yet to take on a project which we have failed to deliver... the area will have its desired maths and science centre," he added.
Masia said that in the quest for good education for young people in the area, appropriate resources and laboratories were necessary.
"The community has come to appreciate that the violence which was perpetrated [against] schools was not in the best interests of our children, and now wants to ensure that pupils have a better future, and greater access to better education", Masia added.
The SAME Foundation has taken on the challenge to find the required funding by March 2019, and have the project running by mid-year.
Schooling has been proceeding normally in Vuwani this year, with no reports of intimidation or violence during exams as opposed to the previous two years when Grade 12 pupils had to be bused to various locations to study and security guards had to be hired to watch over them as they wrote their exams.
ALSO READ: Catch-up plan for Vuwani students if shutdown ends
Violence over demarcation boundaries surfaced in 2016, leaving more than 30 schools burnt and some vandalised.
The demarcation issue is still being considered by the Vuwani demarcation task team and the Limpopo provincial government.
