Helderberg
Year 18 • Tuesday 4 March 2014 | Tel. 021 853 0211
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A primary and high school are being constructed in Nomzamo to address the overcrowding of schools in the area.
PHOTO: DELIAH BRINKHUIS
New schools to bring relief of overcrowding The two new schools being constructed in Nomzamo will bring much needed relief for parents in the area.
Bronagh Casey, spokesperson for the Western Cape Education Department says the construction of the primary and secondary mobile schools on the corner of Simon and Onverwacht Streets are expected to be completed by the end of this month. Casey says the 850 learners, who are currently being accommodated in mobile units at the Christmas Tinto Primary and the Simanyene High schools in Nomzamo, will be able to move into their new schools at the beginning of April and May. According to Casey, 264 Gr 1 and Gr 2 learners from Nomzamo Primary School are being accommodated in five mobile units at Christmas Tinto while 586 Gr 8, Gr 9 and Gr 10 learners are being accommodated
in a vacant building that was previously used by Asla Construction. Mthicothi Qantolo, principal of Christmas Tinto Primary School says his school currently has a total of 1 494 learners excluding the learn-
ers from Nomzamo Primary. “Our foundation phase (Gr. 1- G.r 3) is our biggest headache,” says Qantolo. He says the school has grown from six Grade 1 classes to nine and has 45 learners in each class. One-hundred-and-seventy-five Gr. 1 learners have already been accommodated in the mobile classes of the Nomzamo Primary School. Qantolo says ideally he would like their foundation phase classes to
have 35 learners per class and he hopes that 469 of these learners can be accommodated at the new primary school. The WCED is also addressing overcrowding at schools in other areas of the Helderberg. Casey says the Rusthof Primary in Strand and ACJ Pakade School in Lwandle have been identified as schools that were built with “inappropriate material”. Rusthof Primary was completed at the end of February while ACJ Pakade is expected to be completed in the 2014 – ’15 financial year. A new school for the Rusthof, Learners with Special Educational Needs (LSEN) in Somerset West will be completed in the 2015 – ’16 financial year. Casey added that a few vacant sites for educational use have been identified in Macassar near Macassar Village and the department is still seeking a site for a new high school in Sir Lowry’s Pass.
Shihle Duwade (10) and one-yearold Sikho Duwade curiously look on as Amy Wallace (10) and Jamie Austen (9) have their hair sprayed as part of the Cansa Shavathon that was held at Somerset Mall on Saturday. PHOTOS: DELIAH BRINKHUIS
Six-year-old Brandon Gilbert (6) of Strand was happy to have his hair transformed into the colours of the rainbow by Cansa volunteer Tracy-lee April.