BY PHESHEYA IAN KUNENE
MBABANE – Let bygones be bygones.
The above phrase will be tested at Sifundzani Primary School, as parents have since expressed a change of mood towards the new school management this morning.
Following the tensions that had engulfed the Sifundzani schools, the parents of the children in the schools have made it clear that they are happy with the new head teacher.
Sifiso Dlamini made this declaration on behalf of all the parents.
He explained that yesterday’s meeting at the Sifundzani Primary School was to thank the Ministry of Education and Training for appointing a new headteacher as the school has been without one for some time.
Dlamini revealed that their meeting at the school with the ministry officials and the new headteacher was fruitful for all parties involved.
The newly introduced head teacher is the former deputy head teacher of the same school, Barbra Mamba.
“We need to make it clear that we were not there to fight or disagree with the Ministry of Education but to thank them for finally appointing a new headteacher. We were now getting worried about the school not having a headteacher. We are happy that the ministry acted swiftly in addressing this matter. As parents, we also want to clarify that we have always known that the schools belonged to the government,” Dlamini said during an interview.
Dlamini said that, as parents, they approved the new head teacher but were not happy that the matter had to be decided by the courts as this did not paint a good picture for the schools. Dlamini added that they did not have a problem with the schools being a hybrid as it sometimes hires its staff or makes recommendations to the Teaching Service Commission (TSC). He said the working relationship with the government has always been smooth and productive.
“We know the new head teacher, she has been with the school for a while now, what we did is that we asked her to share her vision for the future as we do not want the standard of education to be compromised,” he added.
In addition, Dlamini further praised the ministry and the Hhohho Regional Education Officer’s office for their open-door policy when dealing with similar issues.
On Tuesday, the Acting Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Education and Training, Nanikie Mnisi, said Barbra Mamba was the official head teacher at the school. She mentioned this during the press conference, where she addressed the resignation of the Board of Directors for Sifundzani schools.
She insisted that Sifundzani Primary and High Schools were government-aided. Therefore, her ministry would see to it that it appoints an interim board to ensure that the day-to-day management of the schools, particularly the primary school, is not disturbed. She encouraged parents to continue to send their children to the schools and teachers not to panic because nothing in the schools would change.
