Learners at Laerskool Protearif will start the new academic year in a newly refurbished school today.
But the children at Setlolamathe Primary School will have to endure several months in classrooms damaged by a storm.
Both West Rand schools schools were hit by a freak storm in October and September, respectively.
In the true spirit of ubuntu, businesses and ordinary citizens joined hands to donate more than R1.2 million and building materials to get Laerskool Protearif in Krugersdorp ready for the new school year.
In contrast, little has been done to rebuild five classrooms whose roofs were blown off at Setlolamathe School in Kagiso township.
AFTER STORM: Two of the roofless classrooms at Setlolamathe School accommodated Grade 2 learners, one was used as a hall, another as a library and the other as a kitchen. Picture: Itumeleng English/ANA
Two of the roofless classrooms accommodated Grade 2 learners, one was used as a hall, another as a library and the other as a kitchen.
A concerned parent said they had struggled for months to get the Gauteng Department of Education to fix the school.
Last month, The Star published a story about the school governing body and the parents’ plight after the storm hit the school in September.
“The rubble was only removed by municipal workers last Thursday and it was placed on the soccer field. I am concerned that children will get injured.
“The department has been saying they will fix the school, but nothing has happened.
"It has been raining a lot lately and more damage has been caused to the classrooms,” the parent said.
The Department of Education last week bemoaned not having sufficient money to fix nearly 30 storm-damaged schools across the province.
The contrasting tale of the two schools plays out as Gauteng MEC for Education Panyaza Lesufi yesterday briefed media on the state of readiness in schools.
He said there were thousands of learners who still did not have Grade 1 and Grade 8 places.
Lesufi also said they were racing against time to repair the schools that were damaged by the recent storms.
They are mostly in Mogale City, Ekurhuleni and Joburg.
“We have conducted an audit of these schools that will be repaired in due course at an estimated cost of R140 million,” Lesufi said.
Given the challenges faced by the department, Laerskool Protearif has to thank Jacaranda FM’s Good Morning Angels initiative for rescuing it.
The initiative has paved the way for all of its 670 learners to arrive at a fully refurbished school this morning.
“If as communities we can come together and do it, why wait (for the Department of Education)?” asked Dianne Broodryk, who is responsible for Good Morning Angels.
The school's principal, Donna Lourens, expressed his gratitude to the community.
“It was a great team effort. People donated cash of as little as R50. We are thankful to the great effort,” said Lourens.
The initiative was started after concerned parents and residents wrote to Good Morning Angels asking for help.
FIXER: Laerskool Protearif pupils start the new academic year in a newly refurbished school. Picture: Matthews Baloyi/ANA
Lourens said that through the initiative, the school now had three new classrooms to replace the asbestos ones which accommodated learners.
He said there was no “known plan” to replace the asbestos classrooms that were ravished by the storm.
“Our school is looking nice,” Lourens said.
He said building costs were expensive and that although the insurance company had paid out, the amount was not enough to fix the damage caused.
Broodryk said the highest amount donated was R50 000.
“We told people about the devastation. The school was unsafe for children, and the whole situation was bad.
“People gave us windows and some gave us bricks. There was no way we could have done this without our listeners, businesses and community,” Broodryk said.
The construction took about two-and-a-half months to complete.
READY TO ROLL: Businesses and citizens joined hands to donate more than R1.2 million and building materials to get Laerskool Protearif in Krugersdorp ready for the new school year. Picture: Matthews Baloyi/ANA
However, this is just one problem solved for the department, which is still saddled with placing more than 30000 learners in class this year.
Lesufi yesterday said that of the 31000 learners who were not placed by the end of last year, only 2565 had places over the weekend. An additional 4 500 new applications had since been received.
He said the department would hopefully have all the learners in class by the end of February.
“The unplanned financial implications of admitting late applicants are substantial.
"Additional funding will have to be found to finance educator salaries, additional classrooms, learning and teaching support materials, and school furniture,” Lesufi said.