Pupils at Nyadzani Secondary School outside Mutale may soon find themselves in dire straits because the roof of one of their classroom blocks is in a state of near-collapse.

According to the treasurer of Nyadzani Secondary, Mr Naledzani Mulovhedzi, learning and teaching are not conducive for the pupils, "and we appeal to the Department of Education to fix the roof as a matter of urgency". According to him, the roof of the school was damaged by a falling tree during heavy storms in 2010. He added that they had reported the matter to the department, but they did not receive any positive reaction.

"We are appealing to the provincial department of education to look at the matter of our school urgently, before the roof collapses. We are also worried that some of our classrooms are not fit for learning and teaching."

A spokesperson for the Limpopo provincial department of  education, Dr Naledzani Rasila, said that plans were afoot for renovating and rebuilding storm-damaged schools and the department had set aside R69 million this financial year to address the problem.

“We have already started with identifying such schools in the province. We appeal to Nyadzani secondary school and other schools that were damaged by heavy storms to register with the department, so that they are not left out when we start with the process,” said Rasila.

According to him, his department was proud of addressing the situation and the rural Khubvi Primary School outside Thohoyandou was one of the good examples of what the department was doing to rebuild storm-damaged schools. He said employees in the Department of Public Works had been deployed to start rebuilding the storm-damaged Khubvi Primary.