STORM: 15 SCHOOLS DAMAGED

MANZINI – As government is gearing up for the reopening of schools, 15 of them reported that they were not spared from the storm over the weekend.

These schools are in the Manzini Region. The damage varied from roofing being blown off to shattered window panes. The schools consist of eight primaries which are; Khuphuka, Makhungutsha, Lutfotsha, St Michael’s, Tsawela, St Bernard, Ntondozi and Mphetseni. The high schools are: Masundvwini, St Michael’s, Mjingo, Mliba, Mnjoli, St Joseph’s and Bulunga. At Masundvwini High School, some classes had their roofing blown off and window panes broken. The same happened to about four teachers’ quarters as the roofing was detached. This was said to have been caused by heavy winds experienced on Saturday evening.

Roofing

According to one of the teachers at the school, when the roofing was blown away, a high number of electronic gadgets were destroyed while their items got soaked.
The teacher said they were on Sunday offered a tent to temporarily cover the roofing and shield them from the ongoing rainfall. It was further gathered that over eight classrooms had their roofing partially damaged while others had their window panes shattered. A block of classrooms also had its walls cracked and ceiling sheets had caved in. The classrooms were also filled with water and debris from the walls which cracked during the heavy winds.

As the storm ravaged the school, it also destroyed an electricity line. Also found during a visit to the school were a number of damaged corrugated iron sheets.
Trees were also uprooted while some telephone lines were found lying on the ground. At a distance from the school, a corrugated iron sheet was seen hanging from a copper line. At Khuphuka Primary School, a block of classrooms had its roofing partially detached with some window panes broken. It was gathered that the area was hard-hit as many homesteads had their roofing blown off and or pierced by hail on Friday.

Mkhiweni Constituency Member of Parliament (MP) Michael Masuku said he had received reports that a high number of homesteads were affected by the storm. He said the damage included the destruction of solar panels that were donated to the area to generate power used to pump water for the area’s gardening project. He said about 100 homesteads were affected by this.

Disaster

Masuku said: “This is a disaster and we are hoping that the people shall get assistance as most homes were affected.” On the other hand, Eswatini Principals Association (EPA) President Welcome Mhlanga said they were still to establish from their members on the damage done by the storm over the weekend. Meanwhile, Acting Regional Education Officer (REO) Sizwe Kunene said about 15 schools had reported that they experienced damages due to the storm over the past weekend.

Information

He said his office was collecting data and would forward it to the relevant offices in the ministry. Kunene, when sought to assist on information on the value of the damage, said the planning department in the ministry was yet to assess it. The acting REO said this was a setback as the region was gearing up towards the reopening of schools. He expressed hope that by next week Tuesday, some of the schools would have had the damages repaired. Worth noting is that the damage caused by the storm over the past weekend added to the woes of some schools that had suffered infrastructure destruction from unknown arsonists.

In the Manzini Region, three schools had their infrastructure damaged during class boycotts by learners that ensued in the beginning of last month. These schools are Mncozini High School under the Mkhiweni Inkhundla, Zombodze National High School under Ludzeludze Constituency and Masundvwini National High School under Nhlambeni Constituency. The most damaged school was Mncozini High School, which had its administration block set on fire by unknown arsonists. The fire was extensive such that office furniture, textbooks and stationery were reduced to ashes.

Damaged

Also, the window panes were said to have been damaged and so was the structure as the flames destroyed its paint. At the two national schools, the window panes were pelted with stones such that they needed to be replaced. These hurdles need to be overcome by head teachers and parents who shall be meeting in the various schools throughout the country in an effort to find lasting solutions to class boycotts that marred them. The schools are expected to reopen next week Tuesday, November 16, 2021, following a proposal made during a meeting by stakeholders in the education sector, pending approval by Cabinet.

Meeting

Worth noting is that during last week’s meeting, it was agreed that head teachers and guardians should continuously engage to pave way for both stakeholders to address challenges that were raised by pupils. It was also agreed that all stakeholders should play their part in that government should pay the free primary education (FPE) and orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC) grants. On the other hand, parents are also expected to pay outstanding fees in order to ensure the smooth running of schools when they resume operations. The stakeholders agreed that the fees would be needed to deal with some of the demands that were raised by the learners.

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