MBABANE – Amid the scattered bricks, twisted iron sheets and splintered roof timbers that were once Mcuba Primary School, a single classroom now stands defiantly against the devastation.
It is the only structure left standing after a violent hailstorm swept through Buhleni and surrounding communities in December, leaving behind a scene of utter destruction. The storm did not merely damage the school but obliterated it, reducing classrooms to heaps of rubble within minutes.
With the new school term just 10 days away, this lone classroom is now expected to accommodate the entire school population. The situation has left parents distraught and teachers anxious, as a frantic race against time unfolds to rebuild what nature tore apart.
The surviving classroom can barely hold two upper-grade classes, meaning that Grades VI and VII will have to take turns using it.
The rest of the pupils face an extended and uncertain ‘holiday’, likely missing at least two weeks of learning time. The mid-December hailstorm, which tore through the Buhleni area, has left hundreds of pupils’ education hanging in the balance.
With schools nationwide set to reopen on January 20, the harsh reality at Mcuba Primary is that reconstruction will not be complete in time.
Parents have expressed deep frustration, unsure how long their children will remain at home.
“We don’t know what to do anymore,” said one parent, visibly emotional as she surveyed the ruins.
“Our children are eager to return to school, but there is simply no school to return to.”
According to information gathered by Eswatini News, the construction company contracted to rebuild the school has been working around the clock, even late into the night, in an attempt to meet the looming deadline.
However, persistent rainfall has slowed progress, making it nearly impossible to complete the six new classrooms before reopening day.
When Eswatini News visited the site on Wednesday, workers were still laying bricks on freshly poured foundations, a sight that confirmed the worst fears of parents and teachers.
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Inkhundla commends Education Ministry’s swift response
BUHLENI – For Sicelo ‘Khunga Nkosi’ Dlamini, the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Mayiwane Inkhundla under which the school falls, the disaster is a severe test of response systems.
He commended the Ministry of Education and Training for its swift initial reaction. “I am pleased that so far, the school is being constructed and that it will be better than what it was before,” Dlamini said. When asked about broader assistance for other residents whose homes and property were ravaged by the same storm, he noted that the process is ongoing.”
The National Disaster Management Agency had also started assisting some of the victims,” he explained. Further, he said due to the festive season, not all could be helped sooner, but that help was definitely on the way.”
The story of Mcuba Primary is not an isolated incident, but part of a troubling pattern of intense weather events disrupting life in the Hhohho Region. Shortly after the Buhleni storm, the community of Maphalaleni was also struck by a severe hailstorm. While school structures there escaped total destruction, the agricultural heart of the community was brutally battered.
Times SUNDAY reported that over 500 hectares of crops were destroyed and more than 350 homesteads affected, a devastating blow for a community that relies on subsistence and small-scale commercial farming as its primary means of earning a living. Education was not spared entirely; schools like Nkhalangano Primary suffered broken windows and damage to teachers’ houses, compounding the region’s recovery challenges.
Back at Mcuba, Head teacher Zwelithini Mamba clings to a sliver of optimism amid the crisis. He hinted that the destruction, while catastrophic, presents a forced opportunity. He acknowledged that this was good in a way because a new school structure will be constructed. His hope is for a stable, government-standard building that will finally provide a secure and permanent learning environment for generations of pupils. This sentiment is echoed in the construction plans, which aim not merely to replace, but to improve upon the lost infrastructure.
*Full article available on Pressreader*
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