Best performing Aphelele leaves St Christopher’s, finds ‘new home’
MBABANE – She is learner in demand.
Aphelele Dlamini, the best performing pupil during the recent JC examinations, has turned her back on her beloved St Christopher’s High School. This is the same school where she stole the limelight, proving to be a cut above the rest during the recent JC examinations.
However, it would seem that her outstanding performance did not go unnoticed, as she has chosen another school to complete her next two classes, which are Form IV and Form V. Information gathered is that she is now pursuing her academic dreams with one of the top schools in Mbabane. The school is known to this publication, as it is one of the only few that provides Matric classes in the country, but will not be revealed for now, pending her confirmation.
A clearly disappointed St Christopher’s High School Head teacher, Sabelo Hlophe, confirmed to the Eswatini News that Aphelele had not registered at the school this year.
“Of course, when you produce the best pupil, it is bound to attract admirers and this is what happened in Aphelele’s case. Yes, I can confirm that she has decided not to come back here and the information we have is that she is now with another school somewhere in Mbabane,” Hlophe said.
Asked how they felt about Aphelele’s decision to leave the school that made her a centre of attraction during the already mentioned JC results, Hlophe confidently declared that it came as no surprise to them.
Possibility
“There was always that possibility, especially because she is a good pupil, who is the best in the country. All schools want nothing more than to have classes full of pupils like Aphelele and so, this was to be expected. Afterall, it is not the first time we are losing such a good pupil, we are used to producing them for other schools. I cannot lie and say we are happy to lose her to another school, but in such cases, it is always about a matter of choice for the pupil and Aphelele has made that choice, which unfortunately does not favour our school. We will miss her, but at the same time, we wish her all the best,” Hlophe said.
The head teacher confidently told Minister of Education and Training, Owen Nxumalo, that the school would be producing another pupil in the mould of Aphelele in the next examinations.
“We are blessed with very bright pupils, who are committed to their books and there is no doubt in our minds that another Aphelele will emerge soon,” he further said.
Process
On the challenges facing the school, Hlophe made a passionate plea to the Education Minister to speed up the process of filling up the vacant teaching posts.
“Mr minister, the biggest challenge facing our school is the serious shortage of teachers, which is compromising efficiency in the affected subjects. We trust and hope that this issue will be given priority, so that we can have a full complement of the teachers, which will, in turn, ensure that we produce more pupils like Aph
elele in the future. We have a number of contract teachers that are doing very well in the school and our prayer is that they are given permanent posts very soon. A lot of them have been with the school for a long time now and deserve the permanent employment for continuity sake.”
It was during the same event that the Education Minister announced a special award for Aphelele, courtesy of the ministry, which is a new laptop.
Extended
Nxumalo also revealed that the same appreciation award (laptop), would be extended to the school for being able to produce the best pupil in the country. On the shortage of teachers, the Manzini South Member of Parliament (MP) acknowledged the challenge, promising that some of these challenges will be addressed.
“We are on a fact-finding mission and at the end of it all, there must be progress. We cannot wait for over 10 years before temporary teaching positions are converted to permanent ones. We will assess the situation within the next three months and hopefully, there will be progress in addressing the challenges,” Nxumalo said.
Aware
Noteworthy, is that the head teacher also made the Minister aware of the appalling condition of the teachers’ quarters next to the school.
“We request the ministry to assist the school in renovating the teachers’ quarters, which are not in a good condition at all and presenting health hazard to the occupants,” he said.
Further, the Hlophe also made a request for the ministry to assist the school in rehabilitating the road leading to the school from the main road.
“As you saw minister, driving from the main road to the school has been a nightmare for sometime now and we are pleading with government to come to our assistance in that regard. You do not look forward to using this road but we are forced to do that everyday,” he lamented.
In response, the Education Minister promised to convey the request to the relevant ministry, hinting that there is a provision that roads covering 5km from the main road can be rehabilitated with probase but this is subject to approval of the authorities.
“The school would have to motivate their request to have this road fixed, but I will definitely report the concerns when presenting my report at Cabinet,” the legislator said.