Swazi Observer

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OVER 800 PARENTS CAMP TO SECURE ST MARK’S SPACES

By Nokuzola Thwala | 2024-12-29

Close to 800 parents queued outside St Mark’s High School gates with the hope of securing a spots for their children in one of the 225 spaces available for next year.

Some parents said they woke up as early as 4am in order to be early in securing Form I places yesterday.

The school was buzzing and a hive of activity as both parents and aspiring pupils were at the school, flocking to seek places.

The rains that started pouring after noon, did not hinder the parents from queuing, they just ran for cover while waiting for the rains to pass.

This was while a senior teacher identified as Ralph Maseko called the names of pupils, during the selection process. He called the scripts with the children’s names so that they could go seek places somewhere else.

Some parents also expressed their confusion as to what was happening; if those who were called had qualified or not.

Simangele Dlamini said she arrived at 4.45am at the school in trying to secure the place for her child first, but that did not help because the system used was different.

She narrated how earlier on a teacher announced that they will be accepting pupils who have passed across all categories; not only merits and first classes. “It is now before 12pm and I am still here, which makes me wonder if I will receive any assistance because I arrived here at 4.45am.

It is even more worrying now that pupils that obtained merits are turned back. I am willing to sit here for the rest of the day until I acquire the desired result of securing space here,” she said.

Another parent Mduduzi Mbingo said he remained hopeful that his daughter would get a place.
He said he was looking forward to receiving an acceptance SMS, which would then give him the go ahead to pay school fees.

“As a teacher myself, I understand these processes and the frustration faced by the school during the selection process, which is hard.

As one of the top performing schools in the country, every parent wants their child to come here; the boarding facilities are an added advantage.

The criteria and way of acceptance is different because once a pupil is accepted, the parent’s registered number receives an SMS to that effect,” he said.

Meanwhile, the school’s Headteacher Khanyisile Shabangu confirmed the influx of parents. She said they had accepted some pupils, and would complete their selection and admission processes on Monday.

She said the school policy was clear that they would be admitting all children, from those with merits to those with third class passes.

“We do not have the total number of pupils accepted as yet because we have not compiled a comprehensive report. We are hopeful that we will complete everything on Monday,” she said.

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