Agricultural school faces closure after funds dry up
The Arthur Mfebe Agricultural School in the Eastern Cape is in dire straits and on the verge of collapsing.
Thsi was said by its principal, Lwando Rwayi.
“We have informed the parents and community. Many do try to help‚ but it won’t be long [before we close].”
Situated on the banks of the Wit-Kei River near Cofimvaba‚ the school has 1‚058 pupils from grade 10 to grade 12‚ following a curriculum with three compulsory subjects – agricultural management‚ agricultural science and agricultural technology.
Rwayi places the financial woes of the school at the door of the Eastern Cape department of education for allegedly delaying the school’s R1.5m budget allocation.
As a Section 21 school, the department is meant to deposit the funds at the beginning of the financial year.
That was meant to happen in April. Twelve schools are similarly affected.
Now the farm’s 20 pigs are being starved‚ its crops are failing and the infrastructure is coming apart. For four months‚ the school has been requesting feed for its pigs.
The farm has also been repeatedly burgled. On Monday‚ five chickens were stolen.
Eastern Cape education spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima said the problem was that there were no norms and standards for agricultural schools, which made allocating budgets difficult.
“We hope by the end of this week we will able to solve the problem of all these schools‚” Mtima said. –