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EDITOR: BETTIE GILIOMEE
New school for Coega NCEBA DLADLA
T
HE Minister of Education, Angie Motshe-kga visited Nelson Mandela Bay yesterday for the official handover ceremony of the Coega Primary School in Wells Estate, near Motherwell which has been renovated to the tune of R1.5 million. The minister praised the responsiveness of business in helping to provide for the needs of society and specifically children whose future she said, lay in the power of education. The Shoprite Group repaired the Coega Primary School after it was cited in media reports in August 2012 as an example of how schools in the Eastern Cape have deteriorated without support staff. The school was literally in no condition for effective learning and teaching to take place. Motshekga thanked the Shoprite Group and its partners for being so responsive to cover the overall costs of repairs to Coega Primary restoring the school’s functionality and by doing so helping enhance learner attainment. “This timely intervention shows that working together we can do more to improve the quality of education,” Motshekga said. She said that government had prioritised the Eastern Cape Province in its service delivery plan especially with regards to infrastructural development. The Shoprite Checkers Development Trust stepped in and invested R1 282 951 with some supplier companies contributing R177 539 to cover the overall costs of R1 459 490 for the repairs. The school had no electricity or running water, the 15 classrooms were littered with broken desks and windows while the ablution facilities were not functional. Some classes had no windows and doors and strong wind blew sand and dust into the rooms. As a result the school could not operate properly. The welcome renovations included painting, paving, electricity, windows, galvanized window guards and plumbing installations, a new library facility, new verandas, grass planting and a brand-new kitchen. The minister said the school would stand
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga mingled and celebrated with pupils at the renovated Coega Primary School in Wells Estate near Mother well, Port Elizabeth yesterday. PHOTO: WERNER HILLS as a beacon of hope in the impoverished area of Motherwell. She also promised to send more books to fill the school’s revamped library facility. All has now been completed and Shoprite and its partners have asked the community to take over the guarding and safety of the school to ensure that the 1 300 primary school pupils are motivated to achieve maximum results in a friendly, warm and efficient learning environment. Danie du Toit, divisional manager of the Shoprite Group in the Eastern Cape, thanked the community who have worked with Shoprite to make this school an example of how the community, business and Government can work together to secure the future of education for all in the country. He said the future of the school was now in
the hands of the community to protect and look after, adding that the Shoprite Group looked forward to seeing how they built on this example. School principal Xolile Mpati thanked the Shoprite Group for restoring the dignity of their pupils. Mpati said learning and teaching in the school would take place for seven hours a day and that results would drastically improve. Problems of poor attendance by pupils and teachers taking sick leave would be a thing of the past, promised Mpati. “I feel that Shoprite is not only interested in having customers in stores; they are interested in education as well as upliftment in the community,” said Mpati proudly. He also thanked the community, the School Governing Body and local councillor Nondikho Gana who have all worked together and
got very involved in the repairs to the school. The Treasurer of the SGB, Zoleka Gqirana said that previously people did not see Coega Primary School as a school, but now they admire the school because of all the renovations and improvements Shoprite did. “I am very proud of the school,” she said, urging other community members to take ownership of the school and protect it from vandalism. Councillor Gana also thanked Shoprite for the gesture of assisting the school. She said it had not been a pleasant place to be at but now that Shoprite has done the renovations it has made a big difference. The school has 39 teachers and 13 non- teaching staff, which includes a groundsman, 2 secretaries (of which one is a volunteer) and 10 kitchen staff who cook meals for the pupils.
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