"They came here and dropped a school on us like a bomb and left again. To them education is an event, not an ongoing process"
Velile Tikisa
Nongeke principal
Nongeke Senior Secondary School
For principal Velile Tikisa of Nongeke Senior Secondary School near Bizana, big corporate sponsors see education as an clever publicity stunt and not an on going commitment of support.
The teacher of 19 years, who grew up in Mbhongweni, 36km from the Redoubt, is skeptical.
“Sponsors are easily attracted by big names like Nelson Mandela, but they seldom follow-up on their projects. They came here and dropped a school on us like a bomb and left again. To them education is an event, not an ongoing process,” Tikisa said.
The school is going to wreck and ruin because of lack of capacity to keep it maintained. The villagers are poor and do not have the means.
Cellular phone giant Nokia funded the school, to the tune of R3.8-million. It was ceremoniously opened by Mandela in October 2001.
By seeking sponsorship, the former president came to the rescue of the school that was housed in a mud-hut structure built by the community in 1988. The new building made possible with Madiba’s intervention included the school’s administrative offices and nine classrooms. But these additions attracted children from the surrounding areas and the school soon grew within a few years.
This year it had 1028 registered pupils.
“We were promised a second phase of more classes by the sponsor but nothing ever came of it. The school was forced to move back into the old school.”
The roof of the old school leaks, the windows are broken, floors are cracked and the new wing has also started to deteriorate.
It has been 13 years since that bright sunny day when Nokia and Madiba smiled on Nongeke Senior Secondary, but now the future looks bleak with dampness seeping through the walls and the ceiling in most classes rotting.
With the little resources the school has, the school was painted a year ago. Unfortunately, the new bright yellow paint has started to peel and the good work has been in vain.
One of the greatest challenges the school faces is its exorbitantly high monthly electricity bill. The classes were built with small windows that do not allow enough natural light into the classes, so they lights have to be switched on all day.
Microsoft spokesman Leo McKay said Microsoft had bought a division of Nokia and was trying to gather information from stakeholders involved. – Mkhululi Ndamase and Riaan Marais