By Nqobile Tshili
A WHIRLWIND blew off the roofs of classrooms and hostels at two schools in Matabeleland South on Thursday injuring pupils at one of the schools.
Matabeleland South acting provincial education director Mr Lifias Masukume confirmed the incidents which occurred at Cyrene High School in Matobo District and Senondo Primary School in Gwanda
He said he has since deployed his teams to the ground to assess the impact of the damage.
“I’m still waiting for a full report from the district schools inspector, currently I’m at a Ministry’s workshop in Bulawayo. I received a report that several learners were injured at Senondo Primary School and were taken to the hospital.
“I don’t have the exact number of pupils who were injured. In Cyrene High School there were no injuries,” said Mr Masukume.
He said schools should constantly monitor their roofing infrastructure to ensure that they are in a perfect condition.
Mr Masukume said maintaining schools infrastructure could lessen severe impact when natural disasters occur.
He however, said his call for institutions to assess their buildings was not implying that the two incidents occurred as a result of weak infrastructure.
A source said Cyrene High School is now facing serious accommodation problem following the incident.
“The situation is very serious I don’t want to lie. Hostels for Form 2, 3, 4 and Upper Six students were damaged by the whirlwind. The school had to relocate the students to dormitories that were not affected.
“But it’s not very convenient as the boys are now very cramped in very small space which is not good. I hope something will be done very soon because the makeshift environment is also a good breeding ground for bullying incidents,” said the source.
Cyrene High School is an Anglican Church- run boys boarding.
A week ago, a whirlwind damaged infrastructure at Mafakela Primary School in Bulawayo leaving four Grade Three pupils injured. The Chronicle