New school head makes clean sweep

School principal Sesheshe Molapisi describes himself as a man of action.

Just three months after he took over as principal at the Vumbeni Primary School in Mavimbela Section, in Katlehong, the eloquent and smartly dressed headmaster has managed to turn things around at the once troubled school.

Working hand-in-hand with his HOD, Themba Mongwe, an accredited and highly respected mathematician, the pair has managed to overcome the festering problems that have held the school’s progress back, by opening the school to children of other ethnic groups.

Posing for a group photo with his teaching staff of 27, with a broad smile on his face, Molapisi, believes that with the help of his HOD, the pair, together with the support of their dedicated teaching staff, have managed to get the primary school back on track. “It has not been easy, but it has finally been achieved,” said Molapisi.

Mongwe discussed the school’s origins, the problems it faced in the early ’60s and how at some point factionalism fanned by “witchcraft” led to violent clashes between parents, educators and education officials, until the intervention of senior departmental officials.

Mongwe, described events at the school as “once heated and troublesome” but says that after the school was relocated and renamed “Vhumbeni,” a Venda word that means to “to mould”, things began to improve. And now under the guidance of Molapisi, Vhumbeni has finally found its footing and stands a chance to be a progressive school for the advancement of its learners.

“We are no longer a school that only caters for a particular ethnic linguistic sector of our society. We have now opened our doors to children of other languages such as shi-Venda, Sepedi and Se-Setho,” said Molapisi. He says his moves to integrate the school’s syllabus has been welcomed by not only by his staff, but by the parents, the school governing body, the school management team and the Department of Education.