First tiny steps to a big dream for local primary school
Two brand-new classrooms may not seem like much, but for a small school like Siyamukela Primary in Shabalala Village, it's the first step towards a greater dream.
The two new classrooms were sponsored by Vuka Crushers and handed over to an ecstatic headmaster, Mr Nelson Nkosi, in Shabalala Village on June 11.
Nkosi started the institution in 2008 with 456 pupils but the number has since grown to 698 children from grade R to seven. It only has eight classrooms (including the two new ones) in which 17 teachers and three grade R practitioners try their best to provide learners with a good education.
Children also have the opportunity to gain skill in sports such as netball, soccer and development cricket offered at the school. Last year the under 11 girls represented Mpumalanga in the Kho-Kho Indigenous Games making fellow pupils, teachers and coaches very proud.
The headmaster is very grateful for the extra classrooms as this will lessen the burden of overcrowded facilities.
He says he dreams of having 24 classrooms and an admin block as he is currently running the school from home.
Mr Mahole Elmon, chairman of the school’s governing body, says he, along with the community, believes that it is very important for children to have a good foundation and for this to happen they need proper facilities. Thanks to the school, pupils can have better education and do not have to travel far, as they had to in the past.
This project by Vuka Crushers came after owners Jaco Bredell and Carl Richter and acting chief Ephraim Mhaule met in 2010 and discussed how the company could give back to the community on whose land they conducted mining projects. It was agreed that the company would give back to the community every five years and Siyamukela was chosen as the first project.
Vuka Crushers sponsored the entire project and had builder Ben Swanepoel of Green Projects construct the classrooms. All parties involved at the handover were sincerely grateful for all the help Vuka Crushers had provided so far.
If you would like to get involved, donate or sponsor, the headmaster can be contacted on 083-739-4821 or at nelsonnkosi66.gmail.com
