Parents of children who attended Grade 10 at an unregistered private school in Limpopo last year have expressed frustration after their children were given an ultimatum to repeat the grade, find public schools or stay at home.
The affected pupils were enrolled at Chief Divila Mabunda Science School in Mageva village, outside Giyani, but it turned out that the school’s registration was pending. It offered grades eight to 10.
One of the parents, Readers Mafumo, said the school’s management took them from pillar to post since the beginning of the year when they sought answers. He has since taken up the matter with the Limpopo department of education, Mafumo said, after the local Mawa circuit failed to resolve the matter. In an email addressed to the department and seen by Sunday World, Mafumo explained their plight as parents.
“We as parents [under] the Mawa circuit have a worry about our children. They attended a private school which was later found to not be fully registered with the department of education. We took our children to public schools where they were admitted for Grade 11.
“At the end of February, we received letters from school principals for a meeting. At the meeting we were told that our children from the unregistered school must go back to Grade 10,” said Mafuma.
The father said they would have easily accepted the decision, but they were surprised to learn that their children’s 2022 classmates were comfortably continuing with their Grade 11 classes under different circuits.
Another parent, who asked not to be named, said the problem had negatively affected her daughter, who was too emotionally distraught to repeat Grade 10.
“My daughter is now at home stranded, not knowing what to do with her life. This issue is so painful because they are playing with our children’s lives. Today’s children are emotionally vulnerable. What if my daughter takes her life? Will the government begin to show care?” asked the parent.
When asked why he operated an unregistered school and risked the future of the learners, Hayeka Mabunda, the director of the Chief Divila Mabunda Science School, admitted the school was not registered but blamed “professional jealousy. He said he had submitted his registration papers and was awaiting feedback from the department.
“This is a clear case of professional jealousy. The school started operating in 2018 and has since produced bright learners. This was an initiative from community members who felt that I had done a great job as an award-winning maths and science teacher and they said, ‘build the school and we will support you’.
“Parents are singing praises of this school because it has brought a huge difference in this area. They also trust in my brand because I am the one who introduced the idea of winter schools decades ago, which really gave children a big boost.
“Some of my former students are now at Medunsa,” said Mabunda.
However, the school director admitted that his school was not fully registered.
“My aim was to register the school at the beginning but the department told me that you don’t register a school when you have no learners, teachers and a school governing body.
“They said enrolments would be an indication that the community had confidence in the school,” Mabunda said.
“Once the school started operating, I went to the department and the long registration process began. They were supposed to have awarded us with an Education Management Information Systems (EMIS) number in 2020, but Covid happened and officials were no longer accessible,” said Mabunda, who named the school after local traditional leader Chief Divila of the Dzumeri Traditional Council.
“When the pandemic finally subsided and all offices started operating fully, we were told to bring our file and there were a few omissions, which we sorted out. I am shocked that this is only happening in the Mawa circuit,” he said.
“It looks like there are school principals collaborating with officials at the circuit who want to scare parents away from bringing their children here because they are underperforming.”
Limpopo department of education spokesperson Mike Maringa said they were not aware there were children chased away from school around the Giyani area.
He added that it is illegal for Mabunda to run his school without registration papers.
“We need to launch an urgent investigation and track his application, then we will take it from there. But according to how the department operates, to generate an EMIS number does not take five minutes, and no school can operate without that number.”
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