AS schools across Mzansi prepare to reopen on Wednesday, 17 January, for the 2024 academic year, Mphiri-O-Tee Secondary School in Ga-Mamatlepa, near Tzaneen in Limpopo, faces a significant challenge due to the shortage of classrooms.
The SGB's deputy chairwoman, Annah Maake, and parents expressed their appreciation to Daily Sun after the Department of Education provided them with three mobile classrooms on Wednesday, 10 January.
This followed the publication of two stories about pupils writing examination inside a tent and later relocating to a church after the tent collapsed due to heavy rains and wind last year.
The impact of overcrowding reality hit the hardest for grade 12 pupils who, against all odds, persevered and completed their final exams within in a tent and a church.
The school, with only seven classrooms in 2023, accommodated about 404 pupils, a number expected to increase in 2024.
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It's reported that pupils from seven different villages want to be admitted to the school.
Parent Lucy Ngobeni told Daily Sun that they wish for the construction of a proper school because some pupils even used a shack as a classroom in 2023.
"We are glad that after Daily Sun and other publications published the story and three mobile classrooms were provided.
“But we need permanent solutions, such as proper classrooms, as the school accommodates lots of pupils and produces the best results compared to other local schools," she said.
Maake said during the admission process, pupils will be admitted, even though they are aware of the overcrowded situation that will arise.
“The pupils will be admitted with the hope that the school would eventually get proper classrooms. The Education department gave the school three mobile classrooms. God bless Daily Sun for blowing the whistle, as the situation will be much better this year,” she said.
Mike Maringa, the provincial spokesman for the education department, confirmed the fulfillment of their promise to provide the school with three mobile classrooms and assured that future plans would be finalised.
