PUPILS LOCK GATE, PROTEST OVER SHORTAGE OF TEACHERS

SITEKI – About 100 pupils of Sihlangwini High School locked the school’s gate in protest over inadequate teachers.

They wanted the Head teacher, Khosi Sibandze, to address the issue. The school is located under Sithobela Inkhundla. After locking their school’s gate at around 7am, half the number of the pupils then stormed the primary school to mobilise more pupils who were in class to be part of the protest action. In sensing danger, the primary school’s Head teacher Gugu Mbhamali called the police to maintain order. Sithobela Police Station dispatched officers who dispersed the rioting pupils. It was established that just a few minutes after the arrival of the police, a Quantum  with Lubombo Regional Education Office (REO) inspectors had been mobbed by the pupils who were singing around it and the situation was saved by the arrival of the cops. According to a pupil in Form V, they met last week as pupils in a caucus where they planned and organised the protest.

Attention

The pupil said the organised protest was aimed at drawing the attention of the Ministry of Education and Training regarding the shortage of teachers at the school as they were missing out on lessons yet they were expected to sit for their external examinations in November. The school has an enrolment of about 300 pupils. Government reopened schools on March 29 and according to the pupil, they have not been having lessons due to the shortage of teachers as only five were present at the school. During the protest, three teachers were also locked out and remained outside the school gate until the intervention of the Lubombo REO inspectors.

According to the pupil, they had convened a meeting at around 7am at the school’s gate and waited for others before starting the planned protest. They sang songs while displaying placards which had messages relating to their plight. Some of the messages read, ‘Help Help Help’ and ‘No Teachers, No Learning’. The inspectors suspended lessons and informed the pupils that they would be notified through radio announcements about the resumption of classes once government had resolved the matter. The dramatic situation lasted for close to three hours as the pupils were dispersed at around 10am.

“In our assessment, it was a peaceful protest and we just wanted to draw the attention of government to intervene in our situation because we are missing out on lessons yet we will be writing our external examinations in November. Our parents raised the issue with the school’s administration and they were promised that it would be resolved. On a daily basis, we come here to sit for the whole day,” said the pupil. A parent said they had tried to reason with the school’s administration to address the issue but nothing was done until the pupils resorted to rioting.

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