A brand new Accelerated School Infrastructure Delivery Initiative (ASIDI) school has gone a long way in helping to restore the dignity of the community in Nodutshe village in the Eastern Cape. Jonguxolo Senior Primary School was handed over on Friday 8 November by the MEC for Local Government and Traditional Affairs, Mr Mlibo Qoboshiyane.
It was a wonderful day for the learners and teachers who expressed their joy through rousing song and dance.
The new school, which was built at a budget of R13 million, replaces a decrepit old mud school structure that accommodated only learners from Grade R to 5.
One of the learners described their experience of learning in the mud structure that existed before the newly built school.
“While we were in the classroom learning, goats would come in class and jump around the classroom until we stopped learning (or had to stop class) completely to chase them away,” said Sisahle Sithani, a Grade 7 learner.
The limited capacity of the old school made it impossible for learners to start schooling in time. For them to acquire education, they had to wait until they were seven years old so that they could be fit for long walking distances to schools in other villages.
“We also did not have sanitation here at the school and a lot of time was wasted because both teachers and learners found themselves in the humiliating situation of using the valley for sanitation,” remarked Sithani.
Now the new school has resolved all the challenges in one go,” added the learner.
The Department of Basic Education’s Action Plan 2014 towards the realisation of schooling 2025, which serves as guideline for improving quality education in South Africa is slowly but surely coming to fruition.
The newly built schools come with multimedia libraries and 27 laptops each as well as data projectors which make teaching and learning much more exciting. The interactive nature of the equipment makes it easier for educators to explain complex concepts in the classroom.
MEC Qoboshiyane offered his gratitude to the teachers for continuing to teach in difficult conditions prior to the advent of the ASIDI initiative.
“Without teachers there is no education and future because it gives birth to many other professions,” said the MEC.
The MEC also reminded the parents that it is their responsibility to discipline their children from home to learn to respect elders and teachers in particular.
Mr Qoboshiyane said that education taught people the values of respect and dignity and concluded that every child should be given an opportunity to receive quality education.
