It was all smiles for learners at Shigombe Primary School situated at Jilongo Village, a few kilometers from Malamulele town, when 12 new classrooms were officially handed to them by the Department of Education last week.

Founded in 1948 and built through the efforts of the community, the school had deteriorated to such an extent that learning and teaching had become virtually impossible, school authorities said. The plight of the school finally attracted the attention of the department, which demolished the 12 dilapidated classes and replaced them with 12 new ones.

Speaking during the official handing over, the district senior manager in the department, Dr Gerson Rammbiyana, said the department was faced with a mammoth task of rebuilding, renovating and building new classes throughout the province in order to provide a good learning environment to disadvantaged learners, and more especially those from the remote rural areas. He said with the limited resources at their disposal, the process was bound to be gradual and needed a concerted effort from all stakeholders to be actively involved.

"We therefore call upon the private sector and all concerned with the education of our children to partner us in the provision of infrastructure at our schools," he said.

"We again wish to express our appreciation for the efforts of businesspeople like Mr Gezani Mashele, who took it upon themselves to offer material support to the school, and we encourage others to follow in his footsteps", he said.

Rammbiyana told those gathered that the school was their property and that everyone should safeguard it for use by future generations. He said the department had noted that the school lacked a proper admin block and a kitchen for the school´s nutritional programme and promised to do everything possible to improve the infrastructural needs of the school. He also said that the department would take it upon itself to ensure that the well-being of the learners was catered for. "We again promise as a department that we will try our best to see to it that Fortune Khumalo, who suffered a lifelong scar after being sliced by an alleged muti murderer, receives proper medical care, so that his health returns to normal," he said.

A visibly elated principal of the school, Mr Risimati Hlungwani, said the occasion was a dream come true for his school and himself. He said teaching had become impossible because of the cracking walls and falling roofs. "The infrastructure had become a time bomb that was waiting for the right time to explode and we were not safe here," he said.

"How do people expect children and educators to concentrate and produce good results under these conditions," he asked. Hlungwani said that the school persevered under those abnormal conditions and managed to produce good results in all those years. He said he was thankful for what the department had done for his school as it showed that the department was serious about providing a good learning environment to disadvantaged schools. He said the classes were a good gesture and would motivate the educators to work even harder.

An ecstatic Grade 6 learner, Hetisani Siwela, said she thought good things were meant for urban learners only and was happy that the department had provided them with proper classes. "The learning conditions have improved so much that there is no excuse for failing and we are going to work extra hard and not disappoint our parents and the department," she said.

Shigombe Primary school has been in the news lately after one of the pupils, Fortune Khumalo, had his genitals cut off by a suspected human parts merchant. A suspect, Lucky Simango (24) was arrested in connection with the case and was denied bail. He is due to appear in court on 29 November, 2007.

Those who attended were treated to traditional music like xibelani, xigubu and makhwaya.