A delegation of politicians as well as community leaders visited the new Witsand Primary School before it opened for learners last Monday.
On Friday 12 February Khalid Sayed, ANC MP for education, visited for the first time to familiarise himself with conditions at the school. He praised the principal and community leaders for the processes and achievements to establishment the new school.
According to Sayed, the hard fighting of the Witsand community has yielded dividends over the years, and now the Witsand community needs to make sure they look after the school. The prefab school will serve approximately 380 learners. “The temporary structure will be replaced later and changed to a permanent school that will significantly improve the lives of learners, teachers and the community,” Sayed said.
Gerhard Matthyse, acting principal, informed delegates that the school maintains a three-arm education system, with English as the teaching medium and isiXhosa and Afrikaans as additional languages.
He said the plan is to have an Information technology-oriented school with WiFi in all classes which will equip and expose the learners to IT.
“The idea is to move away from resources on paper to the use of electronic resources,” Matthyse said.
“Most of our learners do not have such facilities at home, and it is our responsibility to empower our learners and the community.”
The school is also a no-fees one, which parents were very satisfied and happy about, he said.
The school can still accommodate 180 learners. Parents looking to enrol their little ones are welcome to do so if they could not get a place for their children at other schools, Matthyse said.
