South Africa: Elim High’s Overcrowded, Crumbling Classrooms Still Await Relief

Here’s a refreshed version of the Elim High news story — rewritten to feel current, sharper, and more engaging while preserving the facts:

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Over 2,000 learners at Limpopo’s only high school catering to both Xitsonga- and Tshivenda-speaking pupils are enduring extreme overcrowding and dilapidated facilities — and they’ve been waiting nearly two decades for help.

At Elim High, more than 80 Grade 9 pupils are crammed into single classrooms. The school has just 14 permanent brick rooms — many with broken doors, gaping holes in the floors, missing ceilings, and leaking roofs. Another 14 prefabricated classrooms, some donated over the years, offer little relief, becoming sweltering ovens in summer and iceboxes in winter.

Some “classrooms” have been converted into storerooms or makeshift offices partitioned by boards.

Toilets are in equally dire condition: only five for girls and five for boys, none with proper flushing systems. Buckets are used instead. Only two boys’ toilets have doors — both riddled with holes — and there are no handwashing facilities.

“It’s dehumanising,” said Grade 10 learner Minkheso Mudaka.

Teachers have also suffered, sharing just two toilets until a local businessman recently donated toilet seats and two urinals for their use.

School Governing Body chairperson Katekani Nabela says the school has been pleading for more classrooms and proper sanitation since 2007. “The biggest challenge is overcrowding,” she said.

The Limpopo Department of Education has allocated R50 million to overhaul the school as part of an Independent Development Trust (IDT) programme — but construction won’t start until at least December 2026.

Spokesperson Mike Maringa confirmed that new toilets meeting national standards will be built, along with additional classrooms. However, the community fears the long wait will mean yet another generation of learners enduring unsafe, undignified conditions.

For now, the sound of learning at Elim High competes with the creak of collapsing ceilings — and the promise of better days feels like a distant echo.