Fire fails to stop matrics
THE START of the 2018 National Senior Certificate examinations for the 20 matric pupils at Sutherland High School this week was not affected by the recent fire that gutted the school.
Spokesperson for the Northern Cape Department of Education, Geoffrey van der Merwe, said yesterday that the 20 matric pupils at the school wrote Computer Application Technology (CAT) on Monday.
“Fortunately, the computer room was untouched by the fire and pupils were able to complete their CAT paper,” Van der Merwe said.
The MEC for Education, Martha Bartlett, visited the school yesterday to monitor progress made by the department after a fire gutted the school premises on September 26.
During her visit, Bartlett, stated that she was satisfied with the work done to completely normalise the situation at the school.
Van der Merwe also used the opportunity to express the department’s appreciation for the support and donations from the Namaqua District Municipality, local municipalities, government departments, the banking sector, insurance companies, South African Large Telescope (SALT) and the broader Sutherland community.
“The department has managed to secure the damaged area and it was declared safe. Pupils and educators are currently being accommodated in the remaining four classrooms on the school premises and adequate school furniture and textbooks have been provided. All our interventions are aimed at ensuring that the unfortunate event has no negative impact on any pupil’s academic performance,” Van der Merwe said.