‘A CLASS’ PUPIL MISSES MATHS PAPER DUE TO BEARD

PIGG’S PEAK – Keeping a beard may be seen as fashionable but this has cost a pupil his future.  

*Sipho, a pupil at Madlangempisi High School, was unable to write Paper II of Mathematics exam after he was ordered to have his beard cut first. This happened on Monday. 

Sipho, who spoke with the consent of his grandmother, said when he arrived at school on Monday morning, he had partly covered the beard using a face mask, as per COVID-19 regulations. However, a male teacher is said to have asked to check his beard and noted that Sipho had neatly trimmed it. 

At this point, the teacher took Sipho to the deputy head teacher who was in his office. 

Referred 

He said the deputy then referred the matter to the head teacher, who ordered him to go and have the beard removed. “I did not have the money to shave so I had to go back home,” he said.

He said the time was about 8:14am and that the examination was expected to start at 9am. “There was no way I could make it home, get money, shave and return to class in time for the examination,” said Sipho. 

He said even if he had gone to a nearby barbershop, he had less than 30 minutes because he had to be in the examination room 20 minutes before starting time. 

He revealed that Mathematics was his favourite subject. “When it comes to Mathematics, I always get As,” he said. He said even in Form III, he obtained an A in Mathematics and that he was also doing Additional Mathematics (AdMa). 

Sipho said he would follow up on this matter so that he could lodge a formal complaint. The Head teacher, who was identified as Ngwenya, confirmed that a pupil had not written the Mathematics examination. Ngwenya said the pupil was asked to go and shave but instead of returning in time for the examination, he did not. “I understand that he went home,” said Ngwenya. 

Barbershop 

The head teacher said had the pupil gone to a nearby barbershop, he would have returned in time to write the examination. He said it was against school regulations for pupils to have beards. 

He revealed that the pupil had trimmed his beard instead of removing it completely. 

Dr Edmund Mazibuko, the Registrar of the Eswatini Examinations Council, said the school would have to write a report of why the pupil had not written the examination. “What we expect is that every pupil who has paid examination fees write the examination,” he said. 

Dr Mazibuko said missing one of the papers in a subject was tantamount to not writing that particular subject. “Each paper has an important component of the subject,” said Mazibuko. He lamented that the pupil had been deprived of the opportunity to write the examination.

*Pseudonym used to protect identity of pupil

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