Magovhani learners still taught under trees

At the Magovhani Primary School in Ravele, the pupiles are still being taught under trees.

The Grade R pupils are attending class under a tree, while the other grades take turns learning in the classrooms. The school has a total enrolment of 600, but on rainy days almost half of the children don't report for school. At Magovhani Primary School there are only 11 classrooms, making teaching and learning impossible due to extreme overcrowding. At the moment, the Grade 1 class accommodates 91 pupils.

When Mirror visited the school two weeks ago, the Grade R learners were being taught under a tree. “All we need is classes to accommodate our children,” said community member Ms Mavhungu Mafela. "We have applied many times to the Department for classes, but our pleas have not yielded any fruits.” Mafela said that mobile classrooms could alleviate the situation as the lack of classrooms is a matter that requires urgent attention. “Either that, or else government must build classes for our children. Look at other schools in the province and you'll see that they have the luxury of air-conditioners."

She further said that teaching children under trees put a lot of pressure on educators since there were many things that could distract the learners from learning. The principal of the school, Ms Patricia Ramango, did not want to speak to the press.

The chairperson of the Congress of the People (COPE) in Vhembe, Mr Geoffrey Tshibvumo, said that the South African democracy was now more than 17 years of age and children were still learning under trees. “It's quite shocking and disappointing for us as a nation to still find our children attending classes under a tree,” Tshibvumo said. “We call upon the Department of Education, both provincial and national, to make an urgent intervention and build classrooms for Magovhani School. A nation that does not invest in the education of its children is a dying nation.”

The spokesperson for the Department of Education, Mr Pat Kgomo, said that there was backlog in the department. He said that many schools around the province were running short of classes. He said that they had already submitted a report to the relevant department and that they were still waiting for the response. Magovhani will receive first priority when they get an answer, he said.

News - Date: 14 March 2012

Kaizer Nengovhela

Kaizer Nengovhela started writing stories for Limpopo Mirror in 2000. Prior to that he had a five year stint at Phala-Phala FM as sports presenter. In 2005 Kaizer received an award from the province's premier as Best Sports Presenter. The same year he was also nominated as Best Sports Reporter by the Makhado Municipality. Kaizer was awarded the Mathatha Tsedu award in 2014.

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