BY MBONO MDLULI
MBABANE – Residents of Maphalaleni and Nkhaba Constituencies could not hold their joy when they were informed that the Ministry of Education and Training would soon build a high school at Gangakhulu, one of the areas under Maphalaleni Inkhundla.
The announcement was made by Minister of Education and Training Owen Nxumalo during a community meeting at Gangakhulu, as reported by Eswatini TV. Minister of Public Service Mabulala Maseko, who is also an MP for Maphalaleni, was part of the meeting. Nkhaba MP Hope Shiba was part of the meeting as well.
During his address, Minister Nxumalo mentioned that a state-of-the-art high school would be built at Gangakhulu. The minister said his PS Bhekithemba Gama and his Under Secretary: Schools Manager Lungelo Nhlengetfwa gave him a thumbs-up when he asked them if the high school could be built sooner in the area.
The building of the school would help the residents to find it easy to enable their children to have access to a high school education. At the moment, there is only one high school at Maphalaleni Inkhundla.
Minister Maseko said this posed a challenge to the parents and the learners of Maphalaleni because the high school could only admit 45 learners, out of the 300 learners that were produced by the primary schools within the constituency. MP Shiba also encouraged residents from his constituency, especially those that will benefit from the project, to ensure that they gave all the necessary support to the people who would be helping the areas in constructing the school.
The parents also stated that they encountered a lot of challenges because of the prevailing state of affairs in that area. They said some of their children went to stay in places as far as Pigg’s Peak, in search for a high school education. This was a challenge because the children would be away from the guidance of their parents, making it easy for them to be tempted to stop going to school.
The parents further stated that because of not accessing the high school education, the learners would be bored and all they would think about would be the involvement in romantic relationships, something that would result in unwanted pregnancies. This would only aggravate poverty, unemployment, and other social problems.
