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OVER 6 000 PUPILS MISS FIRST TERM CLASSES

By NOKUPHILA HAJI | 2024-05-24

Over 6 000 pupils missed the first term of school due to lack of funding.
The pupils are said to have failed to pay deposits, which would have allowed them entry in class.

With schools opening for the second term last week, the deputy prime minister’s office yesterday revealed that some of these children were again sent home.

This was despite the minister of education and training warning headteachers against sending children home while threatening to take action against parents who did not settle their children’s fees.

The disparaging statistics were revealed by the Deputy Prime Minister, Thuli Dladla, during a workshop to sensitise legislators on the DPM’s operations under the social cluster at Sibane Sami Hotel yesterday.

Upon realising the dire situation the children were in when schools opened this year, Dladla said she requested that the E22 million which was unused in the ministry be allocated to cater for the out-of-school pupils.

She highlighted that these were children from rural areas who they urged to register with the DPM’s office and further reported that since schools opened last week, they needed to make sure that they were in school.

“Government is ready to pay school fees and it has since reached our attention that some of them have been sent back home. We are now amazed as to whom will the money pay for because they are no longer at school,” said the deputy premier.

According to Dladla, they also discovered that some of the schools demanded top-up fees and the headteachers refused that the children attend classes without paying.

“Some of the children were found to be new in the category of OVC and the office had to pay their deposits,” said Dladla, further revealing that they were trying to tame the situation by sending every child back to school but it was now hard as some of these pupils were sent back home.

She said laws supporting that every child should be in school had been passed in Parliament and government was more than prepared as it knew its responsibility and would never abandon it. “Government was the one that said it will take these children to school but the schools do not want that.

Some of the headteachers are refusing to cooperate with the office of the DPM making it look like it will abandon its responsibilities,” lamented the deputy premier.

The children, Dladla decried, had already missed out on a term and were now losing on another.
She said when they pay the fees it would be for the whole year whereas they would be in class for a shorter period.

The DPM also highlighted that the fees had already been forwarded to relevant departments for processing.

“We have a lot to do, not only on the control and transparency, but even in the part of the schools. When we pay the fees again next year, it will be for the whole year only to find that the children will be sent back home again by the headteachers, forgetting what has happened this year where they missed an entire term,” Dladla stated.

According to the DPM, they were faced with those challenges, which she believed they would be able to sort out this time around but only if the headteachers work with them.

Chairman of the DPM’s office Senate Portfolio Committee Prince Mphatfwa said children should go back to school because the office would pay for them highlighting that due to the delays in administration work, the funds also got delayed.

He further requested headteachers not to send pupils back home because the DPM’s office would soon pay their fees.

“I would like to urge the headteachers to work with us because the money is there. This is only delayed by the administration work,” he said.

Senator Princess Ntfombiyenkhosi asked if those who sent the children home would be happy if the tables were turned and underscored that the DPM’s office made a promise to pay but some headteachers were now depriving the underprivileged population from continuing with school.

“There has to be a policy that will force headteachers to accept children to school and rather hold their certificates because once the child gets disturbed, they will never perform well,” stated the princess.

Pointed
Senate President Lindiwe Dlamini said the DPM’s office was caring for every Liswati and pointed out that the DPM was moving up and down fetching pupils who were at home alongside government.

She highlighted that government needed to work with all involved stakeholders.
“The office needs to speak to education stakeholders so that they can be cognisant of the challenges and work on them collectively. Headteachers also need to run the schools while government needs to ensure that funds arrive in time so that the nation is not abused,” said the senate president.

Dladla in response said they were working together with the ministry and that Minister Owen Nxumalo informed headteachers about the policy on top-up fees but some of them overlook it.
“We called the schools where the children were chased away but the headteachers denied doing so.

There is a lot that we have to fix, government has never missed out on its payments but would rather delay,” stressed the DPM.

She went on to state that one school had 12 children who were paid for by their parents with the rest enrolled under the DPM’s office.

After having a conversation with the children, Dladla said she discovered that they were really in need.

Schools Manager, Lungelo Nhlengetfwa, said they were not unaware that some schools still sent some pupils back home even after the DPM’s office had promised to pay for them.
Nlengetfwa said these were vulnerable children who the office had decided to assist and was determined to pay fees for.

“Government will pay the full amount at the end of the day and we do not understand why children are being chased away from school. I wish to get to those schools and address the issue with the headteachers because the news is all over. I wish to get the name of the school so that this can be dealt with,” he said.

Condemning the act, he urged headteachers to be patient with the DPM’s office as it would settle the fees at the end of the day.

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