Pupils at the Glenvista High School set fire to the school hall, to protest the writing of an assessment on Tuesday.
Local councillor Sarah Wissler confirmed the incident saying ‘I have been inundated with questions around the fire that happened yesterday morning [Monday]. Yes, it did happen and yes, the pupils who started the fire have been identified and dealt with by the department.’
Gauteng basic education MEC Panyaza Lesufi condemned the incident. “We wish to condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the burning of the Glenvista High School hall, allegedly by learners who did not want to write an assessment which was scheduled to be written in the hall that afternoon,” according to the department.
Lesufi said the department would not pay for the damages.
Principal Thobile Morgan said the estimated cost of the damage was about R400,000. ‘Yesterday they burnt the school hall because they didn’t want to write an exam. Today, they wrote the exams outside. So sad,’ he wrote on Twitter.
Social media users, some of whom claimed to be former pupils at the school, expressed their disappointment at the incident.
‘So those kids in Glenvista High School wrote their exams after all, outside under the sky. Serves them right.’
‘Imagine burning your whole high school just because you don’t want to write exams.’
‘Can’t believe this was my school: honestly sickening. The rise and fall of Glenvista High.’