PRINCIPAL of Richem Secondary School (RSS), Dr Sibosiso Mthethwa, will soon depart, having been appointed to a Director post at the KZN Department of Higher Education and Training.
Prior to his appointment at RSS, Dr Mthethwa had been long involved in education, having started as a teacher at Khula High School in 1993.
Through hard work he rose through the ranks, becoming departmental head and deputy principal respectively.
‘It has always been my passion to improve my qualification in order to remain relevant and effective in education, hence I pursued part time university studies (acquiring BA, B.Ed Hons, MA, ACE in Education Management and eventually PhD) which I think equipped me with requisite management skills to head and lead a new institution,’ said Mthethwa.
Dr Mthethwa was appointed to lead RSS 2011 and said it was an enormous responsibility.
‘I was so excited about the opportunity of starting a new school from scratch with seven staff members and 200 learners.
‘Few months into the job I realised the amount of responsibility ahead but with God’s grace, I had a tremendous support from the people of Zululand, and the education authorities.’
He especially thanked the Zululand Observer for its ‘tremendous support from day one’.
Making history Dr Mthethwa admitted that leaving RSS is a bitter- sweet moment for him.
‘Bitter since Richem is so close to my heart. ‘As a baby, I have for the past five years, been part of her infancy and coming of age.
‘It is sweet in the sense that Richem today is a centre for academic and sports excellence.
‘I will definitely miss the experience of making history in starting a new school and all the challenges and triumph that came with it.’
Dr Mthethwa made specific mention of achieving a 100% pass rate for the 2015 Matric class (the first Matric presentation by Richem Secondary), successfully maintaining an average of 90% overall pass rate across all grades since the school inception in 2011, and the successful introduction of sports culture such as rugby, soccer, netball, volleyball, chess, table tennis and public speaking.
‘As I leave I want to humbly express my most heartfelt gratitude to the people of Zululand from all walks of life for their unrelenting support.
‘I trust that the Richem team will continue flying the flag of academic and sports excellence high.
‘The school is bound to succeed it is blessed with a very good team of SMT, staff and supportive SGB.
‘In serving the community as the headmaster of Richem I have learnt a lot and I appreciate the rare privilege I have been accorded.
‘I will use this experience as I join the Department of Higher Education and Training where I still hope to contribute, in my small, humble way in the education sector.’
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