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MHUBHE FRACAS: TEACHER COULD BE AGITATOR – MINISTER

19/08/2021 08:39:00 BY STANLEY KHUMALO

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MANZINI – Minister of Education and Training Lady Mabuza has claimed that a teacher could be behind the constant mayhem at Mhubhe High School.

Mabuza minced no words as she said the ministry would deal with bad potatoes within the school that were a bad influence to others. She implored all stakeholders to get rid of the bad potatoes. “There are different bad potatoes in this school. If all was within my powers, I’d go to certain people. I’ve prayed about this and pleaded for action. We are tired of people who are directionless and want to instill the same among our children,” Mabuza said. She was speaking in a meeting organised to deal with the constant challenges at Mhubhe High School. These challenges include constant protests and recently, the burning of the school. Over the past weekend, the office of the deputy head teacher and the staffroom were burnt using a combustible substance. Following this act, an impromptu meeting between the parents, officials from the ministry, the police and the royal kraal was organised to address this incident.

The minister visited the school to assess the damage and engage the parents while seeking their input to deal with the challenges. Mabuza said they had visited the school having suspicions that there was a teacher behind the constant unruly behaviour exhibited by the pupils. She said the ministry, after getting information from other stakeholders which include the police, the royal kraal and the Manzini Regional Education Office (REO), would compile a report that would highlight the cause of the challenges at the school and the solution. The minister said the report would be delivered in a reasonable time so that the issues that were a challenge were dealt with accordingly. Mabuza said life should be enjoyed and cherished by every person in the country without having fear being instilled by wayward individuals. She said to her knowledge, only beasts were herded and not people. Therefore, the ministry would deal with the people behind the mayhem at the school.

She pleaded with the royal kraal to also deal with the ‘bad potato’ as the school did not belong to an individual but was the hard work of parents who paid building fund to have it constructed and developed. “Today, I say cul-de-sac on bad potatoes bringing disharmony to this school. We’ll get rid of them; be it a teacher, pupil or parent.” The minister said she was aware that there was someone behind the manner in which the pupils behaved as they would not randomly decide to act in the manner they did.
“In most instances, there is usually someone older behind this. They use the learners and tell them to burn and throw stones (at structures). If you look closely, these people have qualifications.” The minister said the pupils could not be brought to order if there was an elder telling them what to do.

She requested the parents to look deep into the issue as she complained that there were pupils who she funded their education but always had poor results. Worth noting is that the minister is also an elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Mafutseni Constituency, which Mhubhe High School is located under. She is also a former teacher and head teacher. Meanwhile, before the minister took to the podium, Director at the ministry Ntombenhle Dlamini had requested that the attendees of the meeting clap their hands to welcome the minister. The response was not appealing such that in jest she said: “I know some of you are clapping and are showing your happiness without exhibiting it. Please clap again.” The attendees of the meeting responded by clapping louder this time. However, after greeting the people, the minister said she would not have clapped as well because there was nothing exciting about being part of a meeting while parents had left their children at home because of COVID-19 and the constant unruly behaviour that resulted in the burning of schools.

Mabuza explained that she was well informed about Mhubhe High School and knew that all was not well at the school. On the other hand, the school’s Head teacher, Mlungisi Nxumalo, announced that lessons would resume today after the temporary closure. He implored parents and guardians who were at the meeting to inform their children to report for school.