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Merit forger welcomed back at St Mark's High

19/01/2011 00:00:00 KWANELE DHLADHLA

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MBABANE - The St Mark’s High School pupil who forged her Junior Certificate results is back at the same school.

When the Times News Desk visited the school yesterday, she was found in Form IV class, seated in the front row and not chatting to any other pupil like her classmates. The pupils had no lessons as the teachers were reportedly in and out of different meetings.

The pupil said she decided to come back to the same school because they had shown her they care about her future more than meting out punishment.

"I have promised my parents and teachers I will now act responsibly and behave myself, which has been accepted by the principal. He called me to his office, but we did not manage to have time for the interview because he was too busy," said the pupil. She is alleged to have forged a letter, supposedly from the Exams Council Registrar, Edmund Mazibuko, informing her parents she had scored a Merit in her JC as opposed to the Second Class which was published and recorded as her result. To convince her parents that indeed she had obtained the Merit pass, she also forged a results statement.

A worker from the Proficient Eliang Courier Services stationery shop in the Swazi Plaza confirmed helping the pupil to type the letter which she used to trick her parents into believing she had obtained a Merit.

matching

Looking smart in a red tunic and white shirt and with a matching red and navy blue neck-tie, the pupil looked relaxed during the interview. During the interview in the corridor she would pause from time to time and look around she was afraid of being accused of wanting publicity, after defaming the reputation of the school.

When asked how she forged all the documents, she responded, "I did it alone because that way I thought I would not be easily caught by the school, Exams Council or my parents. I only went to the stationery shop for the typing and printing of the documents," she explained.

...‘I thought of quitting school’

MBABANE - The St Mark’s Pupil who forged her JC results said she contemplated quitting school.

However, counselling from her mother changed her mind.

"I did not want to come back to the same school in fear of victimisation, but the words of advice from my mother and her willingness to pay my fees to proceed with school made me change my mind," she said. The pupil said she was not on good terms with her mother following the incident. The mother recently revealed, during an interview with the Times Sunday, that she made her child shave her hair after the incident and was enforcing other strict measures to make her realise she had made a mistake and should not dare try something like it again. Furthermore, she said counselling services from qualified counsellors would be of great help as it would give her an insight on how to conduct herself after the incident.