Grocott's Mail
  • NEWS
    • Courts & Crime
    • Features
    • Politics
    • People
    • Health & Well-being
  • SPORT
    • News
    • Results
    • Sports Diary
    • Club Contacts
    • Columns
    • Sport Galleries
    • Sport Videos
  • OPINION
    • Election Connection
    • Makana Voices
    • Deur ‘n Gekleurde Bril
    • Newtown… Old Eyes
    • Incisive View
    • Your Say
  • ARTSLIFE
    • Cue
    • Makana Sharp!
    • Visual Art
    • Literature
    • Food & Fun
    • Festivals
    • Community Arts
    • Going Places
  • OUR TOWN
    • What’s on
    • Spiritual
    • Emergency & Well-being
    • Safety
    • Civic
    • Municipality
    • Weather
    • Properties
      • Grahamstown Properties
    • Your Town, Our Town
  • OUTSIDE
    • Enviro News
    • Gardening
    • Farming
    • Science
    • Conservation
    • Motoring
    • Pets/Animals
  • ECONOMIX
    • Business News
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Personal Finance
  • EDUCATION
    • Education NEWS
    • Education OUR TOWN
    • Education INFO
  • Covid-19
  • EDITORIAL
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Trending
  • In the words of Nelson Mandela, “To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity”
  • Avbob 2023 Poetry Competition Winner: Sithembele Isaac Xhegwana of Makhanda
  • Flooding at the James Kleynhans Water Treatment Works
  • Avbob 2023 Poetry Competition Second Place: Jeannie Wallace McKeown of Makhanda
  • Residents of Extensions Nine, 10, Transit Camp, Phumlani and Enkanini voice discontent!
  • Makhanda Creatives Speak Out
  • Running towards a drug and alcohol-free Makhanda
  • What’s On 23 – 30 March
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Grocott's Mail
  • NEWS
    • Courts & Crime
    • Features
    • Politics
    • People
    • Health & Well-being
  • SPORT
    • News
    • Results
    • Sports Diary
    • Club Contacts
    • Columns
    • Sport Galleries
    • Sport Videos
  • OPINION
    • Election Connection
    • Makana Voices
    • Deur ‘n Gekleurde Bril
    • Newtown… Old Eyes
    • Incisive View
    • Your Say
  • ARTSLIFE
    • Cue
    • Makana Sharp!
    • Visual Art
    • Literature
    • Food & Fun
    • Festivals
    • Community Arts
    • Going Places
  • OUR TOWN
    • What’s on
    • Spiritual
    • Emergency & Well-being
    • Safety
    • Civic
    • Municipality
    • Weather
    • Properties
      • Grahamstown Properties
    • Your Town, Our Town
  • OUTSIDE
    • Enviro News
    • Gardening
    • Farming
    • Science
    • Conservation
    • Motoring
    • Pets/Animals
  • ECONOMIX
    • Business News
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Personal Finance
  • EDUCATION
    • Education NEWS
    • Education OUR TOWN
    • Education INFO
  • Covid-19
  • EDITORIAL
Grocott's Mail
You are at:Home»Uncategorized»‘It’s not easy,’ say rural teachers
Uncategorized

‘It’s not easy,’ say rural teachers

Busisiwe HohoBy Busisiwe HohoJuly 12, 2010No Comments3 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

The Eastern Cape is home to some of the most beautiful and peaceful landscapes, and scattered alongside almost impassable dirt roads are a handful of rural schools.
 

The Eastern Cape is home to some of the most beautiful and peaceful landscapes, and scattered alongside almost impassable dirt roads are a handful of rural schools.
 

Although a few of these schools flourish, with libraries, flower gardens and separate classrooms for different grades, the majority lack staff and trained teachers as well as transport and electricity.

Although Mosslands Farm School is one of the struggling schools, the news is not all bad. It looks abandoned from the outside and comprises only one room, shared by about 20 pupils of all ages.

Inside, children sit within their grades around tables and discuss their work. The preschool children play with toys and draw pictures.

Kholiwe Ncanywa, the only teacher and principal of the school, said her learners get the individual attention that those in larger, urban schools might not.

“People don’t understand that we have schools that are multi-graded and can work just fine,” she said.
Ncanywa’s passion and love for teaching keeps the little school going.

“It is not too bad. The children don’t pay fees and the government supplies books, transport and food, but I need help.”

However, some schools are far worse off, and have more pupils. Masakhane Combined School, in the Seven Fountains area, has 67 students.

“It’s not easy; in fact, it is very difficult, but we are here,” says the principal, Nomathemba Lungile. She has been at the school for 15 years and explained how fewer and fewer children come to school as they don’t get the attention they need.

“We have five teachers, but we have Grade R to Grade 9,” she sighs. The school becomes ice cold in winter and boiling hot in summer. “Since February we haven’t had transport and we don’t have any electricity.”

Pumba and Kwantu Game Reserves help with a feeding scheme and carpets. Like other teachers in the rural schools, Lungile voiced her concern about the  vulnerable children that attend her school.

“There are children with special needs and we don’t have  teachers that are trained for this. These children will blame the teachers – it’s always our fault,” she said, shaking her head.

She wishes her school could help these children who are in desperate need of attention  and care.

Previous ArticleArmed midnight robbery at Grahamstown Steers
Next Article Up, up and away
Busisiwe Hoho

Comments are closed.

Tweets by Grocotts
Newsletter



Listen

The Rhodes University Community Engagement Division has launched Engagement in Action, a new podcast which aims to bring to life some of the many ways in which the University interacts with communities around it. Check it out below.

Humans of Makhanda

Humans of Makhanda

Weather    |     About     |     Advertise     |     Subscribe     |     Contact     |     Support Grocott’s Mail

© 2023 Maintained by School of Journalism & Media Studies.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.