Three classrooms set alight in the North West

Three classrooms were set alight at a school in the North West, an incident the provincial department of education has labelled as a “setback to an already compromised academic year due to the Covid-19 pandemic”.

The department said the three classrooms had been provisioned for Grade 10 and 11 learners.

The classrooms were set alight at Ramaine -A- Phetlhu Secondary School at Magogoe a Koikoi village in Mafikeng on the evening of Wednesday, 1 July, the department said.

It said it came to know of the incident at around 8pm on Wednesday after the school principal received a call from a resident to report the fire.

Three burning tyres were placed in front of two classrooms and by extension, another classroom was affected, the department said.

It said two classrooms were badly damaged while another was moderately burnt. The damage includes all the classroom furniture and part of the roof.

The fire department was called at once to quench the fire and police were informed to come to the school to confirm the damage caused.

A case of arson has been opened and no arrests have been made as yet.

MEC Mmaphefo Matsemela has appealed to the community to assist in identifying the culprit as this a setback to the remainder of the academic year for learners.

“I am making an appeal to the community of Magogoe-a-Koikoi to please assist us in identifying the culprits to this damage. This is a setback to an already compromised academic year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The department is tirelessly working on phasing in of other Grades and this kind of setback is gravely unacceptable,” Matsemela said.

Alternative classrooms will be made available, the department said.

(Compiled by Makhosandile Zulu)

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