A principled principal at Groutville High
Nhlanhla Mbele's no-nonsense attitude and thick skin have seen him through and 12 years later he runs one of the best schools in KwaDukuza.
When the current principal of Groutville High arrived at the school in 2006 it was through a baptism of fire.
The school erupted with pupils and parents protesting at the gates because Nhlanhla Mbele was ‘a foreigner’.
“There was a big protest over me not being from KwaDukuza and my car was damaged,” said the Umlazi-born headmaster.
“Fortunately, there were some parents who believed in me and my principles, so they stood up for me.”
His no-nonsense attitude and thick skin have seen him through and 12 years later he runs one of the best schools in KwaDukuza.
In his first year the pass rate shot up from a dismal 43% to 65%. It has not fallen below 60% since.
Today the school produces some of the best performing pupils in the province. In 2017 this was one Emmanual Mwandla, who bagged seven distinctions, and the school’s pass rate improved from 70.52% to 91.8%.
Mbele, who has been a teacher since 1991, said that in his experience there were four key ingredients to running a successful school: communication, trust, prayer and good discipline.
When he arrived there were 600 pupils and 23 teachers at Groutville High. Today there are 2300 pupils and 70 teachers, which he believes to be an indication of the growth of trust in the quality of education offered by the school.
Mbele said he loves his job and is proud that at his school teachers and parents work together.
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To ensure that there is no miscommunication between the school management and parents, they have at least three meetings a month.
Should a parent have a problem with his or her child being disciplined, they are asked to find another school.
“With the scarce resources we have, we have challenged ourselves to get a 100% pass rate this year and that cannot be done with ill-disciplined pupils.”
Finally, leading a school is best done on your knees.
“I strongly believe in prayer. We regularly invite pastors to come and pray at our daily assembly and bring people in to motivate the pupils.”
Mbele is a divorced father of three and passionate about soccer and choral music.
He is a big fan of Kaizer Chiefs and the Arrows, but when the two teams play each other, the Arrows have his backing.
His love for music saw him starting the Groutville High School choir, which is considered one of the best in Ilembe.
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