TSHIKOTA - Masedi Combined School in Tshikota this year still suffers the same problems of overcrowded classrooms, a shortage of stationery, textbooks and furniture as in the past.

Despite the fact that for the past seven years or so, all possible ways and means have been employed to draw attention to their educational needs, the Tshikota schooling community still seems to be neglected. The Masedi School falls in Ward 1, which is a DA ward.

The dire need for a separate secondary school facility in Tshikota was officially brought to the attention of the Department of Education in 1997 by the school governing body. Despite urgent appeals during many years, the community still experienced the same serious plight. Masedi School this year enrolled 940 pupils with more still coming. In one classroom some 85 children were accommodated.

Given the fact that an RDP project to build 500 houses in Tshikota was approved, schooling facilities will have to absorb another possible 500 to 1000 children, to take a conservative figure of two children per household. There is also a nearly completed hostel development project with 78 units to be filled which would probably add at least another 100 children with schooling needs. Cllr Marie Helm, Ward Councillor said that future developments should be taken into consideration when planning for school facilities are done.

In the past several protest marches by the pupils of Masedi demanded attention to the inadequate provision of staff, facilities, stationery and textbooks. This year started out with no stationery for the whole secondary school and an acute shortage of stationery for the primary school. There are no textbooks at all for Grade 5 and 6 and a shortage of text books in six subjects of the secondary school.

Almost five years ago a task team representing the local authority and the Department identified a prime stand right at the entrance of Tshikota alongside the main road to Vivo were a new school was to be build. The municipality offered to donate and service the stand free of charge. The provincial representatives however unilaterally withdrew from the task team and nothing came of the proposed new school. Three years ago the then mayor declared the amount of R650 000 already available to contribute towards the erection of a new school.

The Mayor of the Makhado Municipality, Cllr Rhulani Nkuzana in his hundred day progress report on January 16, reported that the municipality had contributed R600 000 towards the construction of additional classrooms at Eltivillas Combined School. Nkuzana also announced that the Department of Education had committed itself to construct a new additional public school at Extension 8, Makhado Park before the end of this year.

When asked about the shortage of educational facilities in Tshikota, the mayor answered that Tshikota was among a long list of places with acute shortages. The list was submitted to the Department of Education. The question was asked whether the Tshikota school would have been prioritised if it was situated in an ANC ward. The mayor stated that the fact that the school was not in an ANC ward had no bearing on the situation.

Ms Helm stressed the fact that a school like Masedi that show much initiative and drive should be supported. The school on their own initiative repaired the roofs of a whole block of buildings, which were declared unsafe by the municipality. They also showed a marked improvement in their matric results. Their passrate was 24% in 2000, 28% in 2001, 56% in 2002 and 59% in 2003. Mr Mudau commended Masedi's top achievers in the 2003 Senior Certificate Examinations, Thembi Colbert Mhlongo and Edward Motlapena.