NO LESSONS IN MOST MBABANE SCHOOLS

MBABANE - There were no lessons taking place in most schools on the first day of the new academic year despite the Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Education, Bhekithemba Gama, stating that teaching lessons were expected to begin yesterday.

The delay in the release of the Grade VII and Form III results led to schools continuing with the registration of pupils. Parents together with their children were found in some school premises around Mbabane waiting for school head teachers to attend to them. In all the schools visited yesterday, both primary and high, pupils were found moving up and down around the school while others were seated inside their classrooms.

Discussions

The schools that were visited yesterday morning included Mbabane Central High, St Francis High, St Francis Primary, MDS High, MDS Primary, Woodlands High and KaBoyce High Schools. Some teachers were found in groups having discussions concerning their teaching environment. They argued that the Ministry of Education and Training was supposed to postpone the opening of schools until next week, as there was a lot of confusion going on. When some head teachers were asked on whether lessons had begun, some responded by saying there was no way teachers would start the teaching process unless the registration was complete. They said registration would be complete by coming Friday with lessons starting next week.

St Francis High School Head teacher, Sisana Simelane said they were done with the registration of continuing classes (Form II, III and V). She said this was done a week ago. She mentioned that all went well while registering those pupils and teaching had already begun. “The teaching of ongoing classes has begun as we speak. This is because we started the registration of continuing students last week Wednesday,” she explained. She further said that they were currently busy with the registration of the other classes. She noted that they had limited space at the moment for Form I. Simelane indicated that it was possible that the registration period would be finalised by the end of this week. Sibusiso Gumedze, a parent looking for a place in Form I for his child at St Francis High School said the head teacher told them to put the results of their children inside a box and the admission team would decide on who gets the space. He said they were patiently waiting for any possible outcome. “We are still waiting for the admission team to get back to us,” said Gumedze.

Woodlands High School Deputy Head teacher, Faith Makhubu said they were busy with registration. She said it was difficult to teach, as most students were still being admitted. She also indicated that teachers were parents and, therefore, had to make sure that their children were admitted in school as well. “We are still busy with our registration at the moment. We are trying by all means that before the end of this week, the whole registration process would be complete,” said Makhubu. Ka-Boyce High School Deputy Head teacher, Khanyisile Dlamini said there were so many complications they faced on the first day of the opening of schools. She said parents were still hanging around the school to make sure that their children got admitted. She further stated that some parents were still struggling with the payment of fees, hence some of the pupils had not returned.

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