The department of education is pouring cold water on allegations of xenophobia surrounding the recent strike at Nathaniel Nyaluza Secondary School.
The department of education is pouring cold water on allegations of xenophobia surrounding the recent strike at Nathaniel Nyaluza Secondary School.
The school’s education development officer Robin Solwandle, a department official, denied that xenophobic tendencies might have motivated the school staff to go on strike and demand the removal of principal Washington Mushwana.
"What gave rise to the crisis is the appointment of a teacher against the will of other teachers," he elaborated. While he conceded that the appointed teacher is "not South African", he insisted that the teachers are frustrated because one of their colleagues whom they had earmarked for the post did not get the job.
He explained that the selection process is carried out by a panel made up of members of the school governing body (SGB) together with the principal, whom he referred to as a "resource person". He said that while the decision to appoint him did not rest squarely on Mushwana’s shoulders, there is evidence that he unduly scored the interviewed candidates.
According to him, Mushwana was not supposed to grade candidates in any way whatsoever. He also said the teachers allege that Mushwana gave "instructions" as to how the panel should go about executing their task, but that Mushwana denied this, saying he only "advised" the panel.
Solwandle told Grocott’s Mail that the crisis at the school has not been resolved yet as the stakeholders at the school agreed to deal with the issue in stages. “The first phase which we have accomplished was to bring back the learners and teachers to the classrooms,” he said.
He added that the second phase, which is scheduled to resume next week, is meant to deal with the issue of school principal Washington Mushwana whom the teachers want removed from school. “The other phase involves calling everybody to the negotiation table, we need to sit down and figure out how do we reach an amicable resolution to this impasse.”
Mushwana, who said he does not know what is happening at the school, denied appointing a teacher of a "foreign descent" to head the school’s Natural Sciences department. “I don’t appoint teachers, no principal appoints staff. It’s the SGB which after interviewing candidates makes recommendations to the department of education,” he told Grocott’s Mail.
He said he is busy writing a two-week-long examination for a part time course he is doing at Rhodes University. Mushwana also said he was not sure about his future at the school as he is waiting for the department to give him feedback from meetings with the school’s stakeholders.
A Grade 12 learner who is a also member of the Representative Council of Learners said that she was happy that they were writing exams as they need mid-year results to apply for admission to tertiary institutions.
“The learners are not satisfied with the situation at school but are waiting for the term to be over, maybe next term we might take action to normalise the situation at our school,” she said, asking to have her identity concealed in fear of persecution.
She said the Maths exam which the Grade 12s wrote on Tuesday is a photocopy of last year’s paper. “Some questions were difficult as our Maths teacher [Mushwana] had not covered issues in so much depth during the lessons,” she said.
Acting principal Mango Nkwinti, who referred all enquiries about Mushwana to Solwandle, said the school has been busy with mid-year exams since Monday. He added that all grades are writing exams until next Friday and that he would be acting principal until the school term draws to a close.
Nyaluza examinations co-ordinator Noluthando Scheepers said the exams were running smoothly and that teachers are willing to embark on catch-up programmes to make up for time lost during their monthly-long strike action.
The crisis at the school started in May when teachers went on strike calling for Mushwana’s head. The crisis escalated last week when learners in return protested, demanding Mushwana’s return.
SGB chair Dumisani Sopile said he met with the district SGB on Sunday to discuss how the body could be involved in the resolution of the matter, while a separate meeting called parents was presided over by Solwandle. "I haven’t heard from Mr Solwandle about his meeting with the parents yet," he said.
However, he said that parents were shocked by the teachers strike which lasted for four weeks, resulting in the department removing Mushwana from the school for safety purposes.
He conceded that the SGB had made mistakes during the selection process as Mushwana scored the candidates when "he was not supposed to". "During the selection we shortlisted three candidates in order of merit and an internal applicant was the highest, but when the interviews were concluded the internal applicant could not produce all her certificates," he elaborated.
He added that in the light of the lack of appropriate paperwork, the panel recommended that an external applicant be appointed to the post.
