KATLEHONG – Parents of Grade 6 learners at Manzini Primary School are demanding urgent answers from education authorities after discovering that their children are receiving marks for Natural Sciences despite not having a formal teacher for months.
According to parents, the class teacher was abruptly moved from the school without any explanation, leaving learners without formal teaching in the subject for an extended period. Despite this, learners are still being assessed and issued marks, raising serious questions about how those marks are determined.
Parents say the situation points to a breakdown in oversight and accountability that compromises the credibility of the entire assessment system, with children now at risk of falling behind academically.
A School Governing Body (SGB) representative stated that they cannot clearly say where the marks are coming from. The representative revealed that during a recent parents’ meeting, the principal responded to a parent’s question by saying any aggrieved parent must come to the office rather than discussing the matter in the meeting.
“It’s been two years since the Grade 6 learners are without a Natural Sciences and Technology teacher,” the SGB representative said, adding that they do not remember any day when the department provided a report on the teacher’s whereabouts. The representative noted that a teacher currently running Saturday classes for Grade 7 is teaching last year’s work because learners have a backlog from never being taught the previous year.
However, a representative from the parents’ committee strongly disputed this account, confirming that teaching and learning is currently taking place, with the school principal serving as the substitute teacher for Natural Sciences.
“I am very amazed and surprised by the SGB member’s statement that there is currently no teacher teaching Grade 6 learners. This is false. This is not true. It’s dishonest,” the parents’ committee representative said, claiming that a breakdown in the relationship between the SGB representative and the principal has led to the SGB representative using “his own narratives and his own personal agenda to bring the school into a dysfunctional parents’ committee.”
Another parent who serves on the school’s leadership confirmed that they check classes daily and have seen the principal teaching the learners. The parent stated that the principal has called parents’ meetings to analyze learners’ marks each term, reporting that the children are doing well.
The SGB representative, who has a nephew in Grade 6, countered that they check the child’s books daily and there is insufficient work being done. The representative claimed the nephew mentions being taught by someone who is not an educator and does not have education qualifications.
The education department has confirmed that a district official is currently at the school investigating the matter. The department is aware of a teacher who left the school, with some issues described as labour-related and currently being handled by a union. The union is also looking into the matter regarding the teacher’s whereabouts and what will happen to the Grade 6 learners at Manzini Primary School.
