Pietermaritzburg’s Eastwood Secondary School, which suffered catastrophic damage to a number of its classrooms and offices during a hailstorm in December last year, has been repaired and upgraded.
Leading edible oil producer, Willowton Group, stepped up when they received a plea from the school.
Operations executive Mohamed Ishfaaq Moosa said the school no longer had sufficient classrooms for all its learners and was trying to accommodate them on a rotational basis due to the storm damage.
Moosa said Willowton Group could not ignore the plight of the school after the principal, Keith Solomons, appealed for help while facing a long wait for assistance from the KZN Department of Education, which has been inundated with calls for help in the wake of widespread flooding throughout the province during the first half of this year
According to Solomons, the school and surrounding area were hit by a destructive hailstorm on December 22. Large hailstones made enormous holes in the already fragile asbestos roofs of six buildings which housed 23 classrooms, four HoD offices, one administrative office block and the girls’ toilets.
The ongoing heavy summer rains from then on led to the collapse of ceilings and total exposure of the mould-infested Aerolite insulation and asbestos, which posed a serious health hazard to pupils, educators and staff. The rain also damaged all desks and chairs in the broken buildings, leaving staff and educators to work from their vehicles, and pupils without facilities.
The Department of Education covered roofs with tarpaulins to prevent further damage and provided 16 mobile classrooms which enabled the school to continue teaching on a rotational basis.
Building work on two of the six damaged buildings began at the end of June and has been completed for the start the third term this week.
All asbestos roofing on the two buildings has been removed and a new roof installed “so the children are not exposed to any asbestos-related health hazards”.
“It’s imperative that we invest in our children’s education as this will give them the opportunity of performing well for matric and accessing higher education and skills training initiatives,” Moosa said.
”Education is key to lifting people out of poverty and allowing them to access job and entrepreneurial opportunities. We were concerned that the learners were not attending school daily. Since they are in high school, especially grades 11 and 12, they need quality education, and for this to happen they need to be in school.”
Total spent on the renovations at Eastwood Secondary School amounted to R800 000.
Solomon said pupils lost out on a lot of teaching and learning time this year and completion of the curriculum remained a serious challenge.
He said Eastwood Secondary was extremely grateful for the assistance from Willowton Group to repair two teaching blocks, which included a single storey and the middle teaching block, as it would provide an additional 10 classrooms.
Mzwandile Goge, ward 34 Business Network convener, Imbumba for Social Change founder, and Eastwood resident, said that when the school opened for the first term, they faced severe operational challenge.
“The Department of Education indicated they would fix the school before the end of the first term but by the middle of the second term they had not started.
“We approached the Willowton Group for support to assist the school by sponsoring repairs. Willowton Group executives met with Mr Solomon, and a decision was made to refurbish 10 classrooms. The refurbished classrooms will allow the whole school to return at full capacity on a day-to-day basis in the third term,” Goge said.
“As a community member, I’m grateful to the Willowton Group because Eastwood High School services more than just ward 34. It serves 1 500 pupils coming from all over Pietermaritzburg as well as, as far as Hammarsdale and Howick,” he added.
Eastwood Secondary School opened in 1983 and is in the suburb of Eastwood on the north-east side of Pietermaritzburg. Although it started with just grades 8 and 9 and served what was regarded as the coloured community at the time, it has evolved into a school that caters for all other grades with over 000 learners.
It is the only secondary school in the area and plays a valuable role in the surrounding communities since it serves several disadvantaged areas, including informal settlements. The school has struggled with funding, especially during Covid-19.
During 2021/2022, Willowton Group assisted 10 schools with the building of infrastructure and classrooms and helped more than 30 schools with funding for school fees and feeding programmes.
Since late 2021, Willowton Group has also cleared a one-kilometre stretch of the Bayenspruit River each month to ensure improved water conditions. In June, the KZN yellow fish was reintroduced to the river, which allowed those communities living downstream to have clean water and also catch the fish to augment their diets.
EDUCATION