Great strides for eSikhawini
‘This is heaven,’ said KZN Education MEC,
Ina Cronje on visiting Umfolozi College’s
newest campus at eSikhawini yesterday.
She was speaking of the facilities now, in
comparison to what she had seen of the
former eSikhawini Teacher’s College on her
last visit in August 2005 before Umfolozi
College had taken it over.
At the time, the buildings were occupied by
in excess of 400 illegal squatters who had
vandalised the facilities.
Illegal power connections, filth and
degradation were the norm.
The extensive facilities which include four
large halls, four auditoriums, ample
classrooms, dormitories and staff
accommodation as well as extensive sports
facilities (including an olympic swimming
pool, diving pool, indoor basketball and
squash courts) were literally falling apart.
Today, less than a year after Umfolozi took
the facilities on as its fourth main campus,
the mess has been cleaned up. Illegal power
connections have been removed and many of
the classrooms renovated, at a cost to the
college of some R2.2-million.
The college wasted no time after the
facilities were handed over in November; by
1 January 168 business and engineering
students had taken up their studies at
eSikhawini’s new FET facility.
The campus currently has 189 and 116
students enrolled for engineering and
business studies respectively. The number of
engineering students is soon expected to
swell to around 400.
Umfolozi College Council Chairman Louis van
Zyl remarked that the students were
benefiting from studying in eSikhawini where
they live, as they previously would have had
the additional cost of travelling to the
college’s Richtek campus in order to receive
the same tuition.
‘The focus to date has been on the
restoration of the classrooms so that we
could start classes as soon as possible,’
said Campus Manager Sam Zungu.
‘Now the focus must be on equipping the
classrooms to meet the demands of the new
NCV (National Certificate Vocational) which
is to be introduced across the country in
2007.
‘The new curriculum is very focussed on
practical training and workshops and the
facilities must therefore be equipped
accordingly,’ said Zungu.
While the Department of Education is making
funds available to FET Colleges as part of
its National Recapitalisation Plan,
partnerships with the private sector will be
necessary due to the extensive work that is
required.
Thankfully, Umfolozi College has always
enjoyed an excellent working relationship
with industry in the uMhlathuze locality and
this bodes well for prospective future
partnerships.
‘Industry in this area has literally
invested millions,’ said Cronje.
During her tour the MEC spoke to staff and
students of the college and the consensus
was that the community is very happy about
the work that Umfolozi College has done to
restore the facilities to their former
glory.
One co-operative student told the MEC, ‘we
were very worried because the buildings were
just falling apart, but now we are happy
because there is something for everyone to
do here.’
These words proved doubly true when it was
revealed that the renovations are being
carried out by graduates of the Umfolozi
College Skills Centres that have been
operating in the area for some time.
Former carpentry, bricklaying, plastering
and other skills centre students are gaining
valuable practical experience on the
eSikhawini site while earning a living and
saving the college millions on the
renovations.
The MEC expressed her appreciation to the
community for their peaceful evacuation of
the facilities, and to her staff and college
officials for heading the call by her office
to ‘take education to the people’, through
facilities such as Umfolozi’s eSikhawini
Campus.
