Lwamondo Secondary in crisis

Chaos and divisions among pupils, parents and teachers reigned supreme at Lwamondo Secondary School on Monday.

The school, which had been producing good results over the years and had a 100% pass rate in 2014, is engulfed in internal strife. It is now common knowledge that there are divisions among the staff and that the principal is having a tough time in trying to unite the staff members. Concerned members of the community now fear that this top school could be reduced to a non-productive school.

On Monday, an ugly scenario manifested itself at the school when angry parents demanded the removal of a teacher whom they accuse, among other things, of neglecting his duties. On the other side were learners who stood at the gate and looked surprised as to what the parents were doing. They vowed to stop the removal of the teacher, who they said was doing a good job.

SGB chairperson Patrick Mathidi said they had done everything in their power to remedy the problem at the school by involving all stakeholders, but all efforts failed to bear fruit. "This situation here is a recipe for disaster as our children are not being taught. This is affecting the morale of the staff, who are now divided. Our children are now uncontrollable as they do not have supervision and are engaging in illicit activities that could ruin their schooling," he said.

Mathidi further indicated that, after exhausting all avenues to resolve the issue, they had decided to remove the teacher from their school. "We are doing this for the sake of the learners.” One of the learners, Pfariso Sibei, said they did not know anything about the parents' problems. "We are supposed to be the ones who are complaining if ever the teacher was not doing his work. He is a hard worker and we are passing his subject. He is not going anywhere; the staff and SGB should solve their problems as this affecting us as learners."

Sibei said parents were being used for something that did not involve them. "There are divisions here and the school is failing to resolve them and they are now using parents for their own selfish ends," he said.

Later, a group of aggrieved parents marched to the local Dzondo Circuit Office, where they handed over a memorandum outlining their grievances. They were followed by a group of those who are in support of the teacher and also handed over their memorandum in support of the educator.

Limpopo education spokesperson Dr Naledzani Rasila said they would look at the memorandums and, guided by the facts put forward, they would make an informed decision on which steps to take.

Date:02 December 2016

By: Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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