Service delivery protests threaten to disrupt exams

THE Department of Education has been forced to move hundreds of Grade 12 pupils out of the Ngonyameni area, near uMlazi Township, because of ongoing service delivery protests threatening to disrupt their final exams.

About 247 pupils from the Nwabi, Mhawu, Phindavele and Sikhwama high schools in the Ngonyameni and Umbumbulu area are affected.

They were relocated to Vukuzakhe High School in uMlazi yesterday.

Since last month, the Ngonyameni community has been protesting over the lack of tap water. This led to schools being targeted and pupils unable to write some of their tests.

Yesterday an emergency meeting was held with district directors, government officials and school inspectors at the Nwabi High School to address some of the challenges. The outcome of the meeting was not immediately clear. The fate of thousands of pupils in other grades also hangs in the balance.

One principal, who asked not to be named, said if the water issue was not resolved, protests could erupt at any time.

“We have been increasingly concerned about how these Grade 12 pupils will perform. That is why we have moved them to Vukuzakhe High School in uMlazi,” said the acting head of curriculum Dr Barney Mthembu.

“For the duration of the exams, the pupils will remain at Vukuzakhe. We understand it was mostly the revision period that was disturbed because the syllabus was completed in August.

“As the department, we have to ‘hand-hold’ these pupils all the way to their exams.

“There are going to be a lot of late nights with them as we put them through studying, revision and writing,” he said.

Mthembu urged the community to refrain from using pupils as weapons to fight their service delivery battles.

His words were echoed by another principal at one of the affected schools.

“Some of the pupils did not even write their trials. The community is using the pupils as a bargaining tool,” said the principal.