School protest rocks Limpopo

Benson Ntlemo

A traditional leader has been lauded by teachers and the school’s governing body after he stopped a class boycott at Gidjana High School in Collins Chabane Local Municipality, in Limpopo.

Chief Hosi Busa Nxumalo of the Gidjana Traditional Authority at Magona stepped in to calm tensions between learners and school management. Learners were protesting against the departure of popular and favourite teacher Hasani Richard Mdaka who transferred to another school.

They threatened to shut down the school until Mdaka was reinstated.

Both teachers and members of the School Governing Body (SGB) spoken to said problems started when Mdaka failed to get the position of deputy principal recently and was pipped to the post by his colleague  John Mkhomazi,  now former friend.

When asked about the situation, Mkhomazi said he was not at liberty to talk about the matter but referred Inside Education to School Governing Body Chairperson Elisa Ntshani.

Ntshani confirmed that Mdaka was not happy with being overlooked for the position of deputy principal.

Because of this, Mdaka made applications to other schools and was admitted at Nghezimani High on horizontal transfer. This left a void.

Pupils at the school became angered by this and decided on the shutdown of the school until Mdaka came back.

The chairperson of the Learners’ Representative Council, Masocha Smangu, said learners felt the government was unfair when it approved the transfer of a good teacher and not cared to look into the matter of replacing him.

“How are we expected to pass and perform well? We need a good teacher. I don’t know how the department allowed this to happen,” said Smangu.

Ntshani said when teachers went to school they were greeted by locked gates while learners protested outside.

“Learners led by the Grade 12 pupils became uncontrollable and led the school to shut down. We are happy the chief intervened,” she said.

Ntshani said both Mdaka and Mkhomazi are great educators who produced good results in their subjects.

“We were very disappointed to see Mdaka go to another school,” she said and declined to give  reasons why Mkhomazi was chosen over Mdaka even though Mkhomazi himself was also a veteran Xitsonga teacher at the school.

Inside Education contacted Mdaka on Tuesday to hear his side of the story. He  he was at church and would grant an us an interview after service. However, he did not answer his phone.

Both the provincial Basic Education Department and the SGB were unable to calm the tension.

Nxumalo told Inside Education he was called to the school on the third day of the shutdown. On arrival, he asked the police not to force pupils into class but instead organise a meeting with them and the teachers.

Nxumalo summoned the school management team, the governing body and the learners’ representative council to the traditional office to talk about the matter.

“This yielded the desired results because they agreed to suspend the shutdown,” he said.

Nxumalo said he found the grievances of the learners genuine because they want to learn and be taught by a good teacher.

The Limpopo Department of Education Spokesperson Sam Makondo said he is aware of the situation at Gidjana.

“We are waiting for a formal report from the district and we will then be in a position to know that which we are going to do in addressing the matter,” said Makondo.

He said he was concerned that since the administrative block was burnt down in 2015 during the community’s demand for a new municipality, the government has not repaired the damaged blocked whereas it has moved swiftly to repair some schools in Vuwani in the unrest that came after

Police spokesperson sergeant Jimmy Ndou confirmed the police went to the school to monitor the situation.

“We ensured that the gates were opened and that teachers  would have access to the staff room. The students still refused to attend class. There were no nasty incidents that happened and no one was arrested,” he said.

At the meeting, learners agreed to revise their demands and said if Mdaka did not come back they needed someone “as good as Mdaka”.

“What we agreed with the chief is the temporary suspension of the shutdown. This will give the department enough time to act. They have  until March 7 to get a teacher who is as good as Mdaka, “said Smangu

The leaners said they would only resume the boycott if the department of education did not fill the vacancy left by Mdaka.

Inside Education is monitoring the situation.