Protest against dilapidated school
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HEREFORDS – Lugongodlwane Nazarene Primary School which once flourished as a double-stream school now has seven empty dilapidated classrooms.
Last Wednesday parents at the school protested, blaming the head teacher of the classes being dilapidated. They chanted songs while lifting placards on which they made allegations including demands for the head teacher ‘to go’.
Lugongodlwane Primary is one of the 41 schools under the Church of the Nazarene in Eswatini.
According to the parents who had assembled at the school at around 8am last Wednesday, the institution was being neglected. They said the grass was overgrown and that there were also doors and windows that were damaged. The parents also accused the school’s administration of failing to manage the school. They said even livestock freely moved in and out of the school. A parent, who spoke anonymously, said cattle moved into the school using a gate that is damaged.
Also, the parents complained that the school had been in a dilapidated state for a very long time and that the administration was not taking any action against this. They said it was for this reason that they decided to protest so that their grievances could be heard.
The parents then complained that the school was now like a piggery.
Filth
A piggery is a place on a farm where pigs are bred. Pigg’s are often associated with filth though scientifically, they are considered among the cleanest, most intelligent animals that learn to clean their own environment.
Another parent who is part of the committee said the parents went to the Regional Education Office (REO) after the protests. They said they went to formally report their concerns for the ministry to take action.
Meanwhile, concerns were also raised that the number of pupils at the school was dwindling.
This was one of the concerns that were raised by the parents. They said the dropping numbers made it difficult for the school to budget properly because the money received from the government as free primary education (FPE) grants was not enough.
Majahonke Gumedze, who is the school’s Head teacher, said it was not true that the classrooms used by the pupils were dilapidated. He acknowledged that within the school, there were some classrooms which were dilapidated, but that these were not occupied.