INLSA
Mehlomlungu Secondary School is dilapidated but that is not stopping the pupils, their principal, Dumisani Mathenjwa, pictured, or their teachers from striving to be the best. PICTURE: SANDILE MAKGOBA
In Ekhatha village in Nkandla, where tapped water, electricity and tarred roads are a service delivery fantasy, lies a school to which pupils from as far as Durban and Joburg seek admission.
Even local pupils of Mehlomlungu Secondary School make at least a 15km trek to school, most on foot, from their homes.
Despite not having a library or a science laboratory, the school’s matric pass rate means an empty desk is a rare sight. As principal Dumisani Mathenjwa tells it, over the past four years, he has twice boasted a 100 percent pass rate.
One of the pupils, Philani Maphumulo, of Empangeni, is at the school because he wants to be a marine scientist and this is one place where he knows it might be possible.
In 2007 the school got a 100 percent matric pass rate, and 50 percent of the pupils qualified to enrol for a bachelor degree at university.
But in 2008 the results plunged to 76 percent as teachers struggled to understand the new teaching system the department introduced.
The following year, the principal and his dedicated teachers got back on track and pulled the results back to 100 percent.
The school experienced a drop in 2010 and 2011 when it achieved 83 percent and 86 percent respectively. Last year the school achieved a 58 percent pass in maths and 67 percent in science.
Philani, whose parents died when he was a teenager, enrolled at the school this year after he had dropped out of an FET college in Empangeni.
He had thought that by going to a college he could take a short cut to fulfilling his dream of being a scientist, but he soon realised he had to go back to school and get his |science and maths basics in place.
His relatives in Nkandla told him about Mehlomlungu Secondary School’s good track record and he left Empangeni without hesitation.
“In June I got 50 percent in science, which was a bad performance, but with the help of my teachers I will work hard before the final exams.
“I want to achieve at least 80 percent,” he said.
Mathenjwa said he had no doubt that his matric pupils would pass with good results this year. To get a quality result in science, the school takes Grade 10 to Grade 12 pupils to do practical learning at Umfolozi FET college’s science centre in Richards Bay, which is more than 100km away.
The trips, which take place three times a year, are paid for by the parents despite their |financial challenges.
Mathenjwa said most pupils were the heads of their families who cared for young siblings because their parents had died.
“We aim to get 100 percent, but we will never drop below 80 percent. Community members contribute a lot to our good results. Parents attend meetings and also allow their children to take extra classes,” said Mathenjwa.
Mehlomlungu school has 476 pupils and 16 teachers.
Philani’s classroom has 49 pupils although there |are only 11 who are doing science.
The school has two blocks, which have five classrooms each. One block, which was built by parents when the school started in 1996, is dilapidated and its roof is full of holes.
In 2005, when Mathenjwa took over, the Department of Education built a modest facebrick block. Electricity was installed the same year. The teachers have access to printing and photocopying machines and a few shared computers to prepare their lessons.
The staffroom and principal’s office are in a makeshift structure.
Mathenjwa’s office is decorated with about 20 awards and many certificates, which the department awarded to the school in recognition of its excellent performance.
This year the school, which is a section 21 company, was allocated a budget of R41 600, and handed R166 000, which is used to buy teaching materials and to send teachers to workshops.
Science teacher Elijah Mtshali said teaching science in the rural school was difficult.
“Pupils don’t know the science apparatus. They only rely on theory. It is hard to teach them electricity when they don’t even know what a circuit board looks like,” said Mtshali.
The culture of learning and discipline at Mehlomlungu Secondary School is overcoming all the odds – this is a school where young people go when they want to work hard and the proof of their ambition is in its results.
