Toisekraal Public Primary School parents last Thursday stormed to the office of the district department of education (DoE) in protest, demanding to speak to the head regarding the employment of a principal.
The school has not had an active principal since 2014, but Aaron Mhlontlo was appointed to the school by provincial DoE superintendent general (SG) Themba Kojana in 2017. He was rejected by parents in a meeting intended to introduce in him in February of the same year.
The Rep reported (Toisekraal parents, SGB, demand principal of their choice, September 21 2018, that the then DoE Chris Hani district director Nkosinathi Godlo indicated, “A principal was appointed last year and they rejected him. Proper appointment processes were followed, but the parents and SGB members demand their preferred principal be appointed. They demand that the principal be someone who lives in the community and there is no law governing that in the country.”
Mhlontlo was later instructed to remain at home, though he would receive payment until the matter had been resolved.
The group of parents was embroiled in a scuffle with DoE staff after they blocked the entrance to the offices, demanding to speak to either the education development officer (EDO), Mxolelanisi Gongqa, or the district director, Nicholas de Bruyn.
Three officials including Gongqa later arrived to listen to the parents who demanded the re-advertisement of the principal position claiming employment processes leading to Mhlontlo’s appointment were ignored.
School governing body (SGB) treasurer Mntumni Ma-Awu said they had received notification last week indicating Mhlontlo would start working.
“We parents thought to take action because our plea has fallen on deaf ears often before. No one cares for our children in that school, Gongqa only visits when he hears there is a problem. He recently was at the school forcing us to accept this so-called Mhlontlo, whom parents do not even know. A head of department (HOD) was appointed to act as principal, but was suspended for reasons unknown to us, an administrator was later placed and we were informed his contract would elapse on December 31.They later informed us they had made a mistake and that he would work until March this year.”
Ma-Awu said the HOD was also a maths and science teacher and since he had left the school, there was no one to teach the subjects. He indicated an advert for a foundation phase teacher was published twice, but no one had been appointed yet and that was a major concern for parents.
According to the SGB members the issue was not with the person of Mhlontlo, but rather with the SG who “apparently” took over the body’s powers to appoint a principal without consulting them.
The school’s SGB chairman, Ntsikelelo Matyeni, said they had not even received correspondence indicating their powers had been taken away.
“We were at the interview stages of appointing a principal when we learned of this, and while we were still taken aback by the news we later learned that a principal had been appointed. We also learned of an independent panel that sat for the interviews, but was made up of people from around this area who have their own interests and we are not happy with that either. My understanding is that an independent panel would be made up of neutral people who would make an objective decision.”
The SGB members indicated it was resolved in their meeting with the officials that they would “try” to resolve the matter by February 15 and that they would wait until the 16th to hear from the department.
“Failing which, we will go to the DoE head office in King William’s Town because at least we get a sense of direction when we go there. DoE oficials are failing Chris Hani West schools. They are pulling us and the future of our children into the mud,” said Matyeni.
The Rep is privy to information that came out of a meeting with the SG, EDO, other DoE officials and Mhlontlo that took place in November last year where it transpired Gongqa acted without authority when he instructed Mhlontlo to remain at home.
The district office also acted without authority when they engaged Mhlontlo and agreed to him wanting to distance himself from the school. The district office misled the SG when they requested an administrator be appointed at the school. The SG gave a ruling that the administrator compile a report that would be given to Mhlontlo before schools closed last year, that the district office officials inform the SGB and not community members to accept Mhlontlo as principal, among other rulings.
Provincial DoE spokesman Mali Mtima could not confirm the rulings, but indicated that he would soon send correspondence explaining the status quo at the school.