By Palesa Mofoti
After a long anticipation from the community the Northern Cape Department of Education with the Premier of the Province, Dr Zamani Saul officially opened the renovated Kimberley Academy (former Redirile Primary School) on 24 May 2024.
Parents, community members, learners including dignitaries, the Executive Mayor of Sol Plaatje, Kagisho Sonyoni, MEC for Youth, Women, Disability Communication and E-Government, Venus Blemis and officials of the Department of Education and James Mamabolo from V3 Consulting Engineers came to witness the moment.
In his opening remarks, Sonyoni said: “This is not the first school that the 6th Administration is opening, it simply tells us that they are hard at work, ensuring change in the lives of people in the Northern Cape and cultivating young minds with knowledge”.
The proud provincial Premier encouraged citizens to appreciate the efforts that the government is investing in restoring these assets as centers for learning.
The school boasts with 28 fully furnished classrooms 2 science and technology labs, a library, a media center, 6 televisions and 4 ECD classrooms. The sports grounds and the swimming pools are the only outstanding facilities not yet completed.
The total cost for the project amounted to R221 million. Although the academy has a learner capacity of 1200, currently only 388 are enrolled since January 2024.
Petunia Bogoto a parent in the school said, “I am hoping to see big things because I love this school. It’s all about the community and developing learners. This school has everything and I am hoping for greatness that’s why I brought my daughter here”.
Lesego Mpanza, an excited mother to a grade 6 learner comments, ‘I am happy about the school, my child’s previous school had bullying problems, I can see that they take it very seriously at the Academy. I also want to praise the grade 6 educator who takes extra effort to ensure that our children are passing with exceptional results. I am very happy”.
Although the school is in the township and is a government school, it is fee-paying, often referred to as quantile 4 or 5. The funds go towards maintaining the amenities in the school.
Terence Langeveldt, the first Principal of this school, expressed gratitude to the officials who made it possible to open the school. ‘We salute the leaders in the Northern Cape Department of Education for their progressive leadership in producing an institution of this magnitude”, he applauded.
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