The cracking girls' double storey hostels at Moeng College in Tswapong have not been renovated yet though the problem was detected in July last year.

As a result this year's Form Four girls intake has been drastically reduced. A visit to the hostels this week revealed cracks in most of the rooms as well as worn out electric plugs that were said to have collapsed after a bout of quakes that rocked the building.

The tremours widened the cracks and cut the electricity supply to the building. The hostels that cost government P1.5 million to build now remain a white elephant and are locked to avert disaster.

Electric wires hanging loose, cracks, birds' droppings and worn out ceramic tiles characterise the building that could otherwise be providing decent accommodation for the students. It is currently locked up and daily monitored by the boarding master to prevent unauthorised entries and thefts that have been going on since the girls were evicted. It will cost the government a whopping P4 million to repair it.

Moeng College School head, Khumoyame Mosetlha said during an interview that the hostels were constructed in 1999 along with other new buildings in the school and it accommodated 248 students. She said the hostels started showing defects in 2001 but the situation worsened in July last year after what seemed like a quake. "We immediately informed our Secondary Education Department about the situation and they ordered that all students be removed from the building."

Mosetlha said the school had 32 rooms and they had to squeeze all the students from the cracking hostel block into the available space. She indicated that the situation was really bad, especially for the Form Fives who were supposed to have a decent place to study for their final examinations. The situation posed some challenges both in terms of hygiene and security. She however said the environment has improved for the better after the Form Fives completed.

Though the students were consulted throughout the situation and owned up to the situation according to the headmistress, the school had another challenge of the number of Form Fours admitted to the school for the limited accommodation facilities. The school managed to absorb all the Form Four boys because they do not have a problem with the boys' hostels but were forced to give away part of the girls to other schools as a result of shortage of accommodation.

After the defects of the new hostels the school was left with available places for only 176 girls instead of the 403 admitted at the school. Moeng College admitted 66 students from Bakgopeng Junior School, 41 from Gosemama Junior School, nine from Metsimasweu Junior School, 113 from Mokobeng and 76 from Sefhare schools, girls included.

However, it could not take up girls from Kgatadimo, Merementsi, Mokgalo, Patikwane, Sesholo junior schools and other schools, which form part of the school catchment area. It had to give away 32 girls from Kgatadimo Junior School, 24 girls from Merementsi and 14 from other schools to Shoshong Senior Secondary School.

All 51 girls from Mokgalo Junior School and 55 from Sesholo Junior School were taken to Goodhope Senior School while 53 girls from Patikwane were sent to Letlhakane Senior Secondary school.

Mosetlha said though they managed to give away most of the girls they are still left with a slightly higher number than they can accommodate. The situation is better now as compared to last year.

She said so far there is no sign that renovations of the collapsing girl's hostel will start soon. She added that assessments have been going on by different officials but nothing concrete has taken place yet. "We really want it to be attended to very quickly or at least be demolished because you never know what can happen to the students."

Chief education officer in the Central Region, Peter Sechele could not comment on the situation at Moeng College and said he is new to the office hence he does not have much information.

Principal public relations officer in the Department of Building and Engineering Services (DEBS) Morwalela Kesalopa said the preliminary investigations conducted last July indicate that the cracks observed at the girls hostel block were "due to pounding next to the foundation of the hostel block".

She indicated that several reasons could be attributed to the pounding and these can only become clearer following a detailed investigation and technical audit of the project and further said a decision was yet to be taken regarding the detailed investigation.

On how long it may take before the hostels can be replaced, Kesalopa said it is subject to the availability of funds from the Ministry of Education and Skills Development but said however, from the time funds are made available the tendering and renovations could be done within 24 months.

Morwalela confirmed that the original completion date of the girls hostel was February 2001 but the actual completion date of the P1.5 million project was February 2002. She added that it is not possible to indicate whether the problem of cracking is due to normal wear and tear, design fault or poor workmanship and said for this reason they cannot ascribe penalties to either the client, consultants or the contractor.

Meanwhile, most of the buildings in the school that was built in 1949 have cracks, peeling walls that are in crying need of a fresh coat of paint.

Unconfirmed reports indicate that the hardly accessible school has been seriously affected by shortage of transport since the trucks were boarded in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Currently only one van acts as an ambulance for the school clinic and runs administrative duties at the same time sometimes forcing teachers to use their private vehicles to run school errands.

On this issue Mosetlha could not comment, referring Mmegi to the chief education officer but stated that the current situation depletes transport funds allocated to the school.