MEC Maile promises to fix fire-damaged Riverlea school

Gauteng Education MEC Lebogang Maile says some of the classrooms at Riverlea Secondary School, which were gutted by a fire, can be restored quickly.

The MEC visited the school on Wednesday, where five classrooms, including a laboratory and library, suffered extreme damage in a fire.

Maile said repairing the classrooms will be more effective than bringing in mobile classrooms, which is an added expense. 

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He told reporters preliminary police reports indicate the fire may have been started deliberately.

This is the second such incident to take place at the school in a year and the third in 19 years.

In April last year, an entire block of classrooms was gutted by a fire.

Maile said he is concerned that the school is not operating at full capacity because of the previous fires. 

"There are classes that were burnt in 2007, which are still not renovated, and last year still not renovated. In fact, our concern is that this school is not operating at full capacity," said Maile.