Mbabane: St Marks High School in Mbabane has clamped down on visitors who could wish to make a stopover and meet their children at the school’s boarding facility.
The Boarding Master, Nkhosinathi Mhlanga, mentioned that they are so strict in making sure that the boarders are not put at risk by allowing people to mingle with them. He said as the school’s administration, they are hawk-eyed on the students to ensure they are safe from contracting the coronavirus.
Mhlanga said visitors will be attended by security personnel who man the gates which is where they will leave their children’s parcels including money. “The only form of interaction that will be allowed will be through calls on personal mobile phones as well as through telephones (call boxes) which are sanitized after each call,” said Mhlanga. He added that such developments have been communicated clearly to all concerned parents and guardians, who have complied.
Other than the boarding master, each block has a house master and two resident teachers, who live in cottages attached to the blocks. “Even under normal circumstances, before the outbreak, these teachers have lived in these cottages and have been helping out in monitoring the boarders, yet, only now has the monitoring intensified due to the outbreak,” said Mhlanga.
In total, the school has seven (7) halls which house a total of 220 boarders, and with the changes brought about by the pandemic’s outbreak, only four (4) blocks have been opened to house the learners. “In total, we have 68 boarders in classes Form 5 and 6,” said the boarding master.
No games
Mhlanga mentioned that as part of instilling precautionary measures, they have cancelled all field games which include football and basketball, adding that, despite having screened the boarders and qualified them to come through to the school, they were not taking chances and allowing them touch each other.
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