SCHOOL HEAD UNDER FIRE
Standoff leaves Sefhare JSS in near paralysis state
SEFHARE Junior Secondary School Head, Baumi Phuthego, has dismissed allegations of corruption, authoritarianism and abuse of office levelled against him by his teaching staff.
Speaking to The Voice on Tuesday, Phuthego was quick to turn the tables, accusing his staff of taking offence whenever he mentions the issue of competence.
Stopping short of labelling his teaching staff incompetent, the Sefhare native revealed he has even suggested to some that they enroll with Botswana Open University (BOU), formerly BOCODOL.
“All I demand from teachers are results. Every decision I take is to ensure that Sefhare Junior posts good results every year, and we’ve been doing well since I arrived in 2013,” he insisted.
Despite the Head’s strong words, angry teachers at the school have called for intervention from the Ministry of Basic Education before the potentially explosive situation boils over.
In an exclusive interview with The Voice,
concerned teachers accused Phuthego and his Deputy of acting like dictators and treating them like kids.
Teachers claim the school is in a state of near paralysis, with management and staff no longer on talking terms.
“Because of this lack of communication, the Ministry had to take back the P300, 000 maintenance funds allocated the school since it remained unused despite falling ceilings, broken doors and windows. The situation is very bad. All Heads of Department no longer contribute during staff meetings. They never utter a single word and have let the School Head make unilateral decisions,” The Voice
was told.
Phuthego and his Deputy, Ephraim Maifala, together with School Bursar, Tshepiso Otimile, have been accused of usurping power in all the committees including the Parent-teacher Association (PTA).
“The PTA is non-existent and finances are now in the care of the School Bursar, which is not ethical. This means there has been no PTA financial report in a while and PTA has received donations from individuals, donations which are yet to be accounted for,” said a concerned teacher, adding the trio, who sit in the Housing, Tender and PTA committees, has formed an unbreakable alliance excluding them from the affairs of the school.
The trio was also accused of corruption and favouritism in the awarding of tenders.
“There was an auction sale that took place on December 2016 in which the school Head was the biggest beneficiary, purchasing two huge reservoirs,” claimed one of the teachers.
“To this day, the supplies office has no evidence of the auction sale and payment,” they added.
The Headmaster was further blasted for streaming classes, putting the As and Bs in the same class while the Cs and Ds are grouped together. This move has allegedly set teachers against each other as those in charge of the As and Bs have an unfair advantage when teachers are assessed.
The Voice contacted the school Bursar, who referred all questions to the school Head. Likewise, the Deputy Head was also contacted, but his phone rang unanswered.
While he admitted that there is no communication between management and teachers, Phuthego told The Voice he has long appealed to his staff to be open.
“They can’t keep running to the media or other offices, we have to discuss our issues here,” he said. The school Head further distanced himself from corruption allegations, maintaining that he had every right to buy the two reservoirs as it was an open bidding.
“It was advertised twice and I was just lucky because I had just taken out a loan,” he reasoned.
Defending his move to stream classes, he explained the decision was taken in 2016 after a careful analysis of the school results.
“We had to come up with interventions to improve our results and so far it has worked well for the school,” said Phuthego.
On the issue of the non-existent PTA, Phuthego said the current PTA committee’s term has long elapsed.
“We’re still working on the matter to have a new committee elected,” he said.
He further clarified the issue of the P300, 000 maintenance fund withdrawn by the Ministry, stating the Ministry is at liberty to withdraw money from the vaults to use it for other pressing issues.
The Voice could not get a comment from the Regional Director, Sonny Mooketsi, as he is currently on a weeklong retreat.