Lifeline for 2 000 Vuwani pupils

Almost 2000 pupils from around the troubled Vuwani area and surrounding villages, who lost plenty of schooling time during the protests in the area, were given a second lease on life when different stakeholders organised catch-up camps for them.

The area saw more than 50 000 pupils in the area not attending school for the better part of this year, and more than 2 000 Grade 12s have not written their mid-year examinations. This sad state of affairs came about after the residents embarked on a total shutdown in protest against their merging with Malamulele to form a new municipal entity in Vhembe. Since the start of the shutdown and the resulting violent protests in the area, more than 20 schools were torched, which left learners stranded and teaching came to a complete halt.

Last Sunday, parents were in a joyful mood when they accompanied their children to their different schools to board buses that were taking them to identified catch-up centres in Limpopo at the former Makhado and Tivumbeni colleges and Mass Tech in Polokwane.

They started their catch-up classes on Monday and the programme is envisaged to end in August 2016.

Bidding them farewell, Chief Livhuwani Matsila, one of the traditional leaders, who has been very vocal against the burning of properties and spearheaded the back-to-school campaign in the area, said their prayers had been answered. “We have prayed for this day to come. We cannot allow a situation whereby our children might lose the whole academic year. They have already lost plenty of their schooling time and we have all the hope that they will recover the lost time."

Rev Nndanganeni Ligege prayed for the pupils before they left. “We are here to give these children hope and that it is still possible, that they could still make it despite the odds against them. We are here to tell them that the sky is not the limit and that they would fly above if they dedicate their lives to God," he added

The chairperson of the SGB of Edison Nesengani Secondary School, Ms Rendani Ratombo, whose school sent 75 learners, said she believed that the programme would benefit the learners immensely. "Our children have lost the most of the year to doing nothing because of the unfortunate situation in our area."

Dzivhuluwani Dombo (19) of Tshifhefhe, who went to Tivumbeni, said they were very grateful for what the department and the concerned stakeholders had done for them. “We have lost precious leaning time and we hope this opportunity will help us recover the lost time,” he said.

Date:01 July 2016

By: Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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