Sabuyaze Secondary was iLembe’s worst performing school last year and there are concerns that little will change this exam season.

The school in rural Maphumulo saw a pass rate of just 60% in 2023 which, if repeated, would see 36 of its 91 matriculants fail this year.

A repeat of last year’s poor showing is a distinct possibility according to Democratic Alliance MPL, Sakhile Mngadi, who visited Sabuyaze as part of 12 days of school oversight visits across the province last Friday.

“The school, which is ranked as Quintile 1, is in a desperate state,” said Mngadi.

“This due to little assistance by the KZN Department of Education (DoE) to date and having had no permanent principal since July.”

He said the main infrastructure at Sabuyaze remained in decent condition for a rural school, but that equipment and teaching aids were lacking.

The school has just one ageing laptop and one projector, which makes it difficult to teach certain subjects, particularly science and maths.

Mngadi said a computer and science lab was the number one priority of acting principal Mbongiseni Zulu.

“According to educators I spoke to at the school, it has been over a decade since money was pumped in for infrastructure and that was to fix a broken roof,” said Mngadi.

“The teachers are doing their best where they can, but more needs to be done by the department to make a change.”

Mngadi said the positive part of the visit was learning that parents of pupils were invested in the school, which is one of the pillars of the Good Quality Triad (GQT) of functional education.

Alongside parental involvement, the GQT suggests that sound school leadership and well maintained infrastructure can contribute to the success of pupils.

Mngadi said appointing a full-time principal and improving learning accessibility could make a huge difference at the Quintile 1 school.

Quintile 1 is the lowest on the 5 Quintile government scale, which is measured on the income level of families with children enrolled.

It means the school receives the highest level of funding per pupil from the DoE, but whether that is enough remains in question.

The KZN DoE did not respond to a request for comment.

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