A PUPIL at Emang Mmogo indicated she was nearly paralysed with fear when chaos broke out and children started “fainting” during assembly at the school on Friday morning, February, 25, 2022.
According to the learner, the school assembly was in process and some of the learners started running and screaming.
“The learners were running and I also started running. One of the learners was screaming “look up to the sky and see”. The next moment everyone started running. I did not look up and just started running too. I was so scared at that time and all I could think about was finding my little sister. A heavy feeling of anxiety, fear and anger all came over me. I was feeling those emotions all at the same time. During that time I was weeping uncontrollably. I could not understand or control what was happening to me. The only thing I could do was weep. I cannot even recall what was happening around me, but these emotions were building up stronger in me. I ran to the tap to drink water in order to calm down, but it did not help,” she said.
She said even though she managed to calm down and find her sister, the details of that event are fuzzy.
“I did find my little sister and those emotions are now gone. I am sure how I managed to overcome those emotions, but I am just happy that it is now over,” she said.
Other learners said they saw some of the other learners fainting and others were crying.
One of the teachers said she found ambulances on the school premises after she had rushed one of the learners to the clinic.
“The learner was complaining about chest pain. Upon my return, I saw there were children being given medical assistance in the ambulance. I am not sure what was wrong with the children,” she said.
Similar situations were reported at St Boniface and Dr EP Lekhela High School.
The Northern Cape Department of Education spokesperson, Geoffrey van der Merwe said the past incidents leaves them very concerned.
“The department is aware of another incident which occurred at Emang Mmogo High School where learners collapsed. The department is trying to get to the bottom of this and to establish why learners are suffering from these episodes. We are engaging widely with the religious sector and health experts on this matter. Ultimately we want to develop a holistic approach which will be inclusive of medical attention with parental consent, psychological counselling as well as culturally sensitive spiritual and religious interventions suited to each situation,” said van der Merwe.
He said the department will advise the schools on how to deal with the matter.
“We will issue a guideline to schools advising them on immediate steps to be taken and options to be exercised based on the individual circumstances of the school in the event of such an episode occurring. We do hope to shed more light on this phenomenon soon and are urging parents, educators and other stakeholders to work together to safeguard our learners to the best of our ability,” he said.
