Learners and community’s health is top priority

Staff of Ekhiyeni Primary School said having received a certificate for being a health promotion school (HPS) will motivate them to work harder in future.

“Each success is the beginning of the next. This certificate will prompt us to promote the health of the learners, teachers, families and community members as well learners. It will also be a reminder for us to practice what we preach,” said Nohlahla Dhlamini, school principal, during a celebratory function last Thursday.

The HPS concept fosters health and learning with all the measures at its disposal. It further strives to provide a healthy environment, school health education and services along with school/community projects and outreach- and health-promotion programmes for the staff. Many of the learners reside on nearby farms and a few hail from Emjindini, mostly Extension 11. The learners, especially those from Emjindini, are at daily risk as they have to walk many kilometres to get to school due to a lack of transport.

As a result, several accidents where children were hit by cars, occurred in the past. Walking tracks were erected for the learners in an effort to prevent further accidents.

Thembi Sefale, chief provincial inspector for the Department of Safety, Security and Liaison, said the walking track was the only solution they could provide at the moment.
“That road (R40 Barberton to Nelspruit) is a national one and therefore we can’t erect traffic lights on it. We have written to the department of roads and transport to propose the building of an overhead bridge,” she said.

Currently, traffic officers are assigned to control traffic before and after school so that learners could cross safely. A workshop was also conducted by the department on the rules of the road.