Johannesburg - Even though the schools in Jagersfontein are not physically affected after the collapse of the dam wall, learners have been affected as they could not access the schools.
This was revealed by the Free State Department of Education spokesperson, Howard Ndada, who said some of their learners have been affected by the situation.
"We have more than 100 learners who have been taken to an alternative accommodation by the municipality and we appreciate the municipality for intervening," he said.
The mining dam in Jagersfontein collapsed at the weekend, leaving the community in distress with many houses destroyed and flooded. The cause of the burst tailings dam has not yet been confirmed.
Ndaba said that as a department they have accommodated learners, especially Grade 12 learners in two hostels because they are writing their preliminary exams.
He said that their exams were not disturbed, but added that only one school missed two subjects but they have made alternative arrangements for them to write the subjects.
He said that to properly address the matter, psychologists from the department were sent to the schools to debrief and give psycho-social support to their learners and teachers.
"Even today, our officials, social workers and psychologists are on the ground having sessions with the learners," he said.
Ndaba maintained that they are working hard to make sure that schooling comes to normality because learners are approaching a critical time in their calendar which is the final exam.
When asked about the safety of learners, he said they are attending classes but they are still waiting for the report from the environmental experts about the safety of the infrastructure and they are hoping that the report will be positive.
He said that the department is working together with its stakeholders to ensure that learners who are accommodated with their relatives are taken to the hostel.
He said it is important for learners to come back to the hostel because that is an environment where learning and teaching will take place and "they will be able to do their homework".
Furthermore, he stated that they want the learners' academic programme not to be disturbed.
kamogelo.moichela@inl.co.za
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