By Lebone Rodah Mosima
The Limpopo Department of Education has handed over 27 newly constructed classrooms and eight renovated learning spaces at DZJ Mtebule Secondary School in the Mopani West Education District.
The state of the art facility has been given two fully equipped laboratories for Life Sciences and Physical Sciences, alongside the refurbished classrooms, bringing the total to 35 classrooms.
Speaking at the handover on Monday, Limpopo Education MEC Mavhungu Lerule-Ramakhanya said 2026 was “A year of transformation and development” and “a new beginning and a new chapter” to achieve new goals and serve as a unified purpose.
“We are here to open the doors to new opportunities for learning and to open the windows to a new era for our education system,” Lerule-Ramakhanya said.
“The handing over of the school is a happy moment for all of us. Our yard today is no longer a construction site but a sanctuary for learning.”
She said the upgraded facilities, serving approximately 1,408 enrolled learners, were intended to restore learning conditions and signal a renewed commitment to quality education.
She described school infrastructure as the starting point for the province’s 2026 programme, calling it a necessary base for other reforms.
“It is the essential foundation – it is the only foundation. The house we build upon must be grander, more daring and more dynamic than anything we have built before,” she said.
Lerule-Ramakhanya said the province was looking beyond traditional classrooms and moving toward technology-enabled learning, including visual and hybrid teaching models.
“Our year of transformation means we will work tirelessly to integrate technology and create visual and hybrid classrooms so that a learner in the remote villages can take a digital journey from the classroom to the future,” she said.
“Transformation means we improve how we serve you as a community and as government. We must shift from paper-based queues to smooth online registration.”
She said the handover marked two milestones: expanding access to new learning opportunities and signalling a shift toward a new approach for the provincial education system. The department’s online registration drive, she said, is aimed at reducing administrative burdens on parents and schools.
On development, Ramakhanya announced a year-long capacity-building programme spanning early childhood practitioners through to Further Education and Training (FET) teachers.
“We will develop pedagogies, digital skills and leadership. When we develop a teacher, we develop an entire generation. We ignite a chain reaction of excellence,” she said.
“We are developing these systems and these teachers to unleash their potential.”
She said the school had been designated a Mathematics, Science and Technology (MST) school, with computer, science and life science laboratories, and urged learners to use the upgraded facilities to improve outcomes.
“Your potential is Limpopo’s greatest natural resource,” she told learners.
She also called on school governing bodies, principals and communities to take responsibility for sustaining improvements and accountability, saying “it takes a village to raise a child.”
“Today we take up that mantle. We are not merely opening classrooms; we are opening the minds,” she said.
“We are not just launching a theme; we are igniting a movement.”
INSIDE EDUCATION
