MQOLO PRIMARY STILL NOT FIXED 2YRS AFTER UNREST

MBABANE – Cabinet ministers were horrified to discover that two years after the civil unrest, Mqolo Primary School has still not been reconstructed.

Mqolo Primary School is located in Corporation township, in Mbabane. In 2021, during the civil unrest, two at the school’s classrooms and a staffroom were burnt. These were Grade II and VII classrooms. It was gathered that Prime Minister Russell Dlamini also attended the same primary school. Yesterday, the Minister of Natural Resources and Energy, Prince Lonkhokhela and Minister of Public Service Mabulala Maseko, toured five schools in the capital city. These were St Francis Primary and High schools, Mater Dolorosa (MDS) Primary and High schools and Mqolo Primary School.

This was part of the fact-finding mission by Cabinet ministers, aimed at getting first-hand information on how schools are performing and which areas government needs to improv on in order to deliver quality education, while ensuring that every child went to school. All the schools that were visited by the Cabinet ministers and the Ministry of Education and Training Under Secretary Schools Manager Lungelo Nhlengetfwa, as well as inspectors of the ministry, have structural challenges. However they express shock at what they found at Mqolo.

Enrolment

The school’s Head teacher, Archie Thwala, told the ministers that the school had an enrolment of 524 pupils, of which 157 were orphaned and vulnerable children (OVCs). Among the challenges, he also disclosed was that the civil unrest was a huge setback to the school. The head teacher was overcome with emotion as he related the loss and inconvenience to the school. He mentioned that in the Grade II classrooms, nothing was salvaged from the flames, as desks, chairs and everything else was gutted. Thwala added that the fire also affected the school’s electricity distribution board, and printers. He added that the roof of the Grade VII classroom was not spared. “I cried as if it was my house that was burning,” he said. Thwala said what made him emotional was that he knew that most of the parents of the pupils in the school, despite being located in an urban location, had limited financial strength. Thwala highlighted that the school even struggled to apply for top-up fees, because most of the parents were low-income earners.

The Grade VII classroom, which had its ceiling and windows burnt, was utilised for learning, despite the holes and shaky ceiling that could fall at any time. The same situation was witnessed at the staffroom. Thwala explained that the reason they utilised the staffroom and the Grade VII classroom under the status quo was that there was no alternative classroom.
He said Microprojects came to the school to conduct assessment but did not return to start the reconstruction work. Thwala said as a result, learning had been disrupted, and the school had not been producing good external results.

Inasmuch as the Grade VII classroom and staffroom were utilised, soot, according to Thwala, would occasionally fall from the roofing. He said temporary remedies to the situation were estimated to be around E130 000. The head teacher said the cost of the Grade II class repairs were estimated at E80 000, while the Grade VII and staffroom were estimated to cost at least E50 000, combined. He added that Mbabane Municipality Council inspectors threatened to shut down the school, because it was not safe for pupils and teachers.

Depressing

Minister Maseko said it was devastating to learn that there were schools that had not been repaired two years after the unrest. The minister said what was even depressing was that the school was located in an urban setting, just a few kilometres from government offices. Maseko noted that there was a likelihood that the school was burnt by residents. “Please tell the community members to stop undermining children’s rights to learn and leave the school alone. If they have issues that need to be addressed they should use proper channels and stop stealing the future of the children,” he said.

Meanwhile Prince Lonkhokhela said he understood what was meant by Sibaya and the King, when they said government should be closer to the people. “Now I understand what was meant by the King when he said asisondzele kubantfu. If we did not leave our offices to visit the school, we would not have known this. If we were lucky we were going to read it through newspapers and still believe that the journalists were exaggerating, but today we are here as we are seeing it with our own eyes,” he said. “I am shattered to see a school that produced a prime minister sitimbobombobo,” he said, while pointing at the broken windows and the black walls in one of the classrooms, opposite the assembly square. The minister promised that they would ensure that the classrooms were repaired within two months, so that the school could be safe for learners.

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