Moriting Primary School celebrated the official opening of five classes built by Corobrik with the acting chief director at Gauteng Department of Education, Mpoku Tau, cutting the ribbon on July 19.
Tau said the National Council of Provinces and members of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature late last year revealed that Gauteng has a shortage of 5 554 classrooms, of which 3 166 are in the primary school phase.
“It is this ever-growing need that saw Corobrik build five new classrooms at Moriting Primary School, with 32 primary schools and 16 high schools in Tembisa. The partnership is welcomed by the department,” said Tau.
The opening celebration welcomed the 1 389 Moriting Primary School learners in Grade R to Grade Seven, their parents, school principal Julia Hlahle and members of staff, as well as representatives from Corobrik, The Department of Mineral Resources, Tau and the executive mayor of Ekurhuleni Municipality Mzwandile Masinga and MMC for Finance and Economic Development City of Ekurhuleni, Dr Nkosindiphile Xhakaza.
On behalf of Corobrik, Musa Shangase, Corobrik’s commercial director, said this is an incredibly exciting day for them and they are particularly thrilled to have the children and community joining in the celebrations of new classes.
“Corobrik’s face bricks have, for many years, formed an integral part of classroom and school construction, countrywide, and we are so proud to continue this longstanding tradition of contributing towards quality education in South Africa,” said Shangase.
“As a licensed mine, Corobrik is committed to completing local economic development projects which serve to enhance the local community through a number of ways. The location of Moriting Primary School between Corobrik’s Midrand factory and Corobrik’s Rietvlei factory allowed for collaboration on this project.”
“The children of Corobrik staff members working at both factories and residing in Tembisa will also benefit as many of their children attend Moriting Primary School,” added Shangase.
“As a high-performing primary school, Moriting works to accommodate a growing number of learners which has put severe strain on the existing facilities. With an average of 41 children per classroom, the additional five new classrooms have been welcomed by staff, parents and learners as smaller class numbers can now be accommodated.”
Moriting Primary School principal Julia Hlahle said the newly-built classrooms will help to reduce overcrowding of classes, ensuring teaching and learning is effective and efficient.
“I feel that every learner is entitled to a proper education in an environment that is conducive to teaching and learning, and for that we thank Corobrik,” explains Hlahle.
She added that infrastructure is vital to improving the quality of education.
“Through Corobrik’s partnership with the Department of Education, we can be assured that we are achieving quality learning in our school. We appreciate the legacy that Corobrik has left for our society and learners, and we look forward to a continuous relationship with Corobrik,” added Hlahle.
Asia Phiri, a community member, said they are pleased to see private companies coming to partner with local schools to better the future of those who inhabits it.
“We had other companies that came to donate computers. Now they have built us classes which is good for us as parents seeing our school being taking care of. As parents we are able to bring our children to the school because we know they will be well taken care off,” said Phiri.
SGB chairperson Tsietsi Mpyane said prior to the building of the classes they had to find locals to be part of the building process. As a result they created jobs for the locals during the building process.
“Looking at the school’s acts it says the SGB has a role to play in alleviating poverty, and the community of Moriting plays a big role in ensuring the safety of the school. At the end it was so fitting to involve our brothers and fathers in the construction of the five classes,” said Mpyane.
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