Cape Town – The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education has condemned the torching of Zwelinjani Secondary School by pupils in Zwelibomvu, Pinetown, west of Durban.
The torching on Wednesday was allegedly sparked by pupils who were enraged by the poor end-of-year marks they had received, News24 reported.
"There are claims that the fire started after chaos erupted when school reports were issued to learners who felt that the results they had obtained were not what they deserved.
"The learners allegedly accused teachers of giving them bad marks," KwaZulu-Natal Education Department spokesperson Kwazi Mthethwa said on Wednesday.
"Emergency teams have responded to fire incidents at the school. Buildings that were destroyed by fire include the office of the school principal, the school kitchen and staff room."
No one was injured but various buildings, including the principal's office, the school kitchen and staff room, were destroyed.
"We appeal to all school pupils not to resort to violence, crime or vandalism against public property when addressing their concerns," said Education MEC Kwazi Mshengu, TimesLive reported.
"We wish to also emphasise that we will not reward anarchy by building another school when, in fact, it was destroyed deliberately."
Police are investigating the incident. No arrests had been made.