Help us fix our school principal
Schools opened last week – but CM Vellem Public Primary School in Joza is carrying over infrastructure problems from last year.
When Grocott’s Mail visited the school on opening day last week, children were sitting at their desks.
Walls have fallen apart and there is no electricity in some of the classrooms.
These problems were confirmed by the school principal Khululikhaya Mfecane yesterday Thursday 19 January.
He said they had electricity in only some parts of the school. Mfecane said the problem was a faulty electrical box.
“We have an electric box that keeps on having problems and we keep on reporting it to Eskom. It gets fixed but again the problem would arise.
“We have some areas here at school that have no electricity because of the problem of the faulty electric boxes I’m talking about.
“Last year we were experiencing the same problem and it is still continuing even this year. You would know that if there is no electricity most things can’t operate.
“For example, when you want to use the printing machine or computers you need electricity and even the phone is connected to the electricity. Everything just stalls without it,” said Mfecane. When he was asked about a classroom whose walls were falling apart, the principal said they also needed to attend to that matter.
He said they needed to try and get funds and fix the classroom. Mfecane said it had been like that for a very long time and that last year, pupils were taught while it was in the same state.
He said he would welcome funding or assistance to fix their broken walls and the electrical junction box.
Mfecane said they’d previously received assistance from a Grahamstown brick company that gave them bricks to fix the walls.
Teachers at the school last week also complained of having no furniture. Pupils were sitting on top of their desks, with no chairs to sit on. Photos: Azlan Makalima