Our classrooms “will collapse on us”, says Limpopo learner
Radzambo Secondary School in Matsila village is crumbling, overcrowded and short of teachers
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Radzambo Secondary School in Matsila village, Limpopo, is crumbling. The school was built nearly 40 years ago. The community has asked the education department to step in to help. Photo: Thembi Siaga
“We feel abandoned. We are afraid our classrooms will collapse on us,” a grade 9 learner at Radzambo Secondary School in Matsila village, Limpopo, told GroundUp.
Parents and learners at Radzambo have for years complained about overcrowded classrooms, the dilapidated state of the nearly four-decade-old building, as well as the limited subject choices offered to learners.
The school opened in 1987, initially offering grades 8 to 10, with grades 11 and 12 introduced in 1995. There are seven brick classrooms, one of which remains closed after it was destroyed during protests in 2016. Radzambo was about 28 schools torched when residents opposed the incorporation of Vuwani into the Collins Chabane Municipality.
The remaining classrooms are weathered. They leak when it rains and some classes have no ceilings. While the school has three mobile classrooms, two of them are used as staff rooms. This has meant that learners in grades 8 and 9 share classrooms.
Radzambo is a no-fee school and serves learners from nearby communities, including Nkuzana and Njhakanjhaka. It has four permanent teachers and four volunteers who teach mostly agricultural subjects and mathematical literacy. Learners have expressed interest in taking up subjects like Physical Science and Mathematics, but the school does not offer this.
The school has four composting toilets and three mobile toilets.
“We hope the school can be rebuilt,” said parent Gladis Thenga. “It’s scary to see our children under those school conditions. We hope the education department will intervene.”
She said the poor condition of the school had affected enrolment figures.
Chief Livhuwani Matsila said the community had started programmes to improve the school themselves while they await assistance from the education department.
“One classroom has no roof and needs to be rebuilt. Our long-term plan is to repair the school desks and build additional classrooms. We need more teachers, and the Matsila community is willing to pay them. But we want to collaborate with the department,” he said.
GroundUp sent questions to the Limpopo Department of Education spokesperson Mike Maringa on 27 July. Maringa had not responded by the time of publication.
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