After floods, Limpopo learners study under trees

The recent heavy rains in Limpopo that resulted in flooding in several parts of Vhembe and Mopani, has left scores of people homeless and without shelters. The floods have also left learners without classrooms and delayed the January re-opening of schools as most of them were rendered inaccessible.

Learners at J.R. Tshikalange Primary School, in Tshififi village outside of Thohoyandou, are currently attending classes under trees as most of their classrooms where left damaged by the floods and in unusable condition. The 385 learners at the school come from Tshififi and surrounding villages.

Some of the classroom walls have fallen down, while those still standing have got visible cracks and pose a danger. “We are faced with a very critical problem. Our learners no longer have a school as all these standing buildings are a time bomb and might collapse at any time. The school has been showing signs of aging over the recent years but the condition was made worse by the recent floods,” says an educator at the school.

She has been working at the school for 8 years and has witnessed its buildings deteriorate. She believes that the school was supposed to have been renovated years back. “Learning and teaching has to continue; hence we have decided to teach our learners under the trees as currently we do not have any alternative. We just pray and hope that the Department of Education will do something urgently as we cannot continue working this way,” she told Elitsha.

Mother’s worst fear

Lufuno Mavhungu, a mother of a grade 3 learner at J.R Tshikalange, told Elitsha that she fears for the lives of all the learners every day when they are at school. “I won’t lie to you, to be honest it is not safe to send learners to the school in that condition but we do not have another choice as there is no other primary school within our village. Anything can happen at any time as most of the buildings are in danger of falling down,” says Mavhungu.

Mavhungu says that though she appreciates the efforts of the educators at the school, she says that learning under a tree is not safe for young children. “Teachers are doing everything they can to ensure that our learners receive a much needed education but it is also very risky to teach learners under a tree. A snake or other dangerous insects can fall from the tree and hurt the learners and the teachers also.”

She called on the Department of Education to provide J.R Tshikalange primary with temporary mobile classrooms. “The department should urgently give us some mobile classrooms as a temporary solution as they plan a way forward on how they are going to renovate the school,” says Mavhungu.

Public infrastructure like roads and bridges was severely damaged by the floods. Photo by Polokwane Weekly

Provincial education spokesperson, Mike Maringa told Elitsha that they are aware of the current situation at J.R Tshikalange and they are working around the clock to ease the situation. “We are aware. We are checking progress on their request for mobile classrooms. We must indicate that the request only came to us yesterday [Wednesday],” says Maringa.

Another primary school which has been badly damaged by floods in Vhembe is Mabilu Primary School, which has over 240 learners. The school is situated in Gondeni village, outside of Thohoyandou. Earlier this week, education MEC Mavhungu Lerule-Ramakhanya visited Mabilu primary to conduct an oversight visit and assess infrastructure damage.