FORM I: NO SPACES IN MAJOR SCHOOLS BUT …

NHLANGANO - Hundreds of Form I pupils might find themselves stranded when schools open, as several head teachers have warned that their schools are already full.

About 27 000 new pupils are expected to go to high school this year, following the release of the Eswatini Primary Certificate Examination results by the Ministry of Education and Training last Friday.

A number of head teachers from major schools around the Shiselweni region have warned that their schools have already finalised the admission process and that new applications were likely to be turned down.

At Nyamane High School, which has a capacity to house 150 Form I pupils, the head teacher, Goodness Dlamini disclosed that they had already filled all spaces and that they were only waiting for the accepted pupils to come and confirm their acceptance of the offer. She said over the past few days, they had been inundated with calls from parents who had left the search for spaces to the last minute.

“We had no choice but to tell them that we have done our admissions. The only miracle one may expect could be when there is an expected pupil who would not accept their offer. Some have already confirmed but there are others who have called to say they still had challenges accessing their results,” she said.
The same sentiments were expressed by the head teacher at Franson Christian High School, Lindiwe Vilane, who said they were done with applications for the number they could accommodate in Form I. She mentioned that all that was left now were selected dates (January 13 and 14), where pupils were expected to confirm their interest in becoming part of their school family. Vilane then said it was always advisable for parents to encourage their children to make early applications.

Evelyn Baring High School in Nhlangano is also another school that had long concluded the selection process for Form I. However, the school was still flooded by parents nursing hopes that there could be spaces.

Issues

Teachers at other schools in the region were also experiencing similar issues.
The only major school that indicated there could still be more spaces available was Free Evangelical Assemblies, which is located at Ngudzeni on the outskirts of Hlatikhulu, where the head teacher, Lindiwe Khumalo, said they expected to fill about 40 vacant spaces today.
“We still have a few spaces that were created by our expansion programme; we have added an extra class for the coming year in Form I. So, we are expecting an influx tomorrow (today), she said.

Also in Manzini, pprominent schools are already full. In fact, Form I and Form IV spaces were filled between September and October 2019 in prominent schools around the city.
This is what was gathered from head teachers of the prominent schools in the hub. The head teachers were contacted following the fact that thousands of pupils have passed in the Eswatini Primary Certificate (EPC) examination, which obviously meant that parents are now faced with the task of finding spaces in Form I.

Again, the Minister of Education and Training, Lady Mabuza is expected to release Junior Certificate (JC) results this week and parents whose children would pass would be found all over looking for spaces in Form IV.
Albert Sihlongonyane, the head teacher of St Theresa’s High School, one of the best performing schools, said he finished admitting pupils in both Form I and IV in October 2019.

Interviews

He said on October 12, 2019, he conducted interviews of pupils who were interested in attending school in the institution and on November 31, 2019, results of the interviews were released.

“All those who passed the interviews were told to pay a uniform deposit so that it can be ordered from New Castle, South Africa. This also shows commitment from the parent,” he said.

He said when schools officially closed on December 6, 2019, all the parents had submitted the bank deposit slips which was proof that they had paid the uniform deposit. He said the number of bank deposit slips submitted proved that indeed the Form I and IV classes were full.

However, Sihlongonyane said there could be a small window of hope during the registration period as some parents might find other schools. He said Form I registration would be on January 16, 2020 while those who were going to Form IV would register on January 17, 2020.

On the same note, Petros Horton, the head teacher of Salesian High School, said he finished admitting pupils for Form I and IV in September 2019.
It is worth mentioning that some of the parents who were found shopping for school stuff yesterday said they were aware that many schools did interviews and admissions during the early weeks of the final term of schools.

Also, in the capital city, parents and pupils are on the rush to secure spaces.
The release of the EPC examination results last Friday has seen pupils who wished to be enrolled at their ideal schools being turned back due to unavailability of spaces.

St. Mark’s High School Deputy Head teacher Winile Dlamini confirmed that there were no spaces available as they finished admitting on October 18, 2019.
She stated that yesterday and today, they were only registering the pupils who were accepted.  That compelled all those who had gone to the school to request admission spaces to turn back.

Worth noting is that some of those who had paid deposits were seen already leaving with stationery yesterday.
When asked about the possibility of having spaces from those who had a change of heart, Dlamini said they were going to accept only those who had come for interviews but failed it.

There were about 200 pupils who were in a queue to register yesterday.

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