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FORMER PS AWARE OF JOHN WESLEY SECONDARY INTENTION

By NOKUPHILA HAJI | 2025-01-23

FORMER education ministry principal secretary, Pat Muir, said he was aware of John Wesley Secondary’s intention of upgrading into a high school.

Muir, who retired in 2017 after having served for 10 years in the position, said all schools built during his time as secondary schools it was in order for them to upgrade into high schools, mentioning that he was in full support of that.

The erstwhile controlling officer was giving his perspective on the stand-off between John Wesley school administration and the ministry over the introduction of the Form IV stream this year.

The ministry has, however, ordered the school to stop the registration process; leaving over 40 already pupils in limbo. The school is adamant that it followed all due processes and that it started while Muir was in office.

Muir confirmed that the school was built during his time in office, explaining that the intention was for all secondary schools to be upgraded and become high schools.

He said the ministry supported that secondary schools should be developed to become high schools but underscored that there was a policy that clearly outlined the processes to be followed.

“The policy states that the school writes to the REO (regional education officer, informing them of its intentions to upgrade to a high school. The regional education officer will then consider some components, including the availability of teachers, furniture, and classrooms because there has to be labs in a high school,” he said.

Muir went on to state that the ministry must not be ambushed, but proper procedures had to be followed, highlighting that all stakeholders had to be involved, including parents when expanding secondary schools.

“If I recall correctly, most of the schools that started off as secondary schools have been expanded to high schools. I left the ministry in 2017, having spent about 10 years there.
Some of the schools include Malunge, Moyeni, Woodlands, Fonteyn, Tikhuba High, Mambane, Duze , Phonjwane and Magwanyana High.

“Some of these schools are being expanded, and in my opinion, I think it is only fair to also upgrade John Wesley Secondary into a high school. In most cases before a school is expanded, the ministry looks at the pressure there is, and there is a lot of pressure in schools around Mbabane,” said Muir.

He said John Wesley was the only secondary school in Mbabane, highlighting that the pupils who were enrolled at the school were being abused by the fact that they have to look for spaces after completing Form III.

However, the acting principal secretary Naniki Mnisi said the school was granted land to build a high school by the Municipal Council of Mbabane around Gobholo after it applied. .

Mnisi said this was what the planning unit was saying according to their understanding.
She said they do not know what happened to the land allocated by the municipality because nothing was communicated to them.

Adding, Mnisi said the ministry was aware that the school wanted to expand but at a new place.
“We want them to explain how the plan with the municipal council went about.

We want the headteacher to align with us because we do not want children to be deprived of their education since the school has a good pass record. She should follow the right channels and engage the people that they have to engage before taking decisions,” she said.

Mnisi added that they also cannot expose children to harsh learning conditions because the school does not have the right infrastructure to teach.

“Allowing this would not be correct, and it is worse that the school has not applied for an expansion. Yes, there is a policy that a school needs to follow when adding more streams.

technical
They apply through the director's office, and the minister then reviews the application with the technical committee, which includes the board of that particular region,” she said.

Adding more classes, according to Mnisi, would mean there should be a science lab, sports ground, and an information and communications technology lab.

She said there were many challenges that they were already facing that included the addition of streams in some schools.

“We have fewer high schools in the country as opposed to primary schools. When secondary schools want to add more streams, we normally allow them because there are pupils who will need spaces for Form I,” added Mnisi.

The problem with John Wesley, Mnisi explained, was that the school does not have space to expand.

“We cannot engage teachers there because they will not have the classes to teach in, unlike others that had the infrastructure,” she said, highlighting that John Wesley was a mission school, which meant that they needed the church’s support before making changes.

“We have a good relationship with the church and as a ministry we expect a letter from them if they want to make such changes. We invite the headteacher to our office and grantee so that we can find solutions,” Mnisi said.

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