The Mbilwi Secondary School Alumni Association (MSA) was registered in June 2022 as a Non-Profit Company (NPC).
The NPC was conceived by Mbilwi Secondary school Alumni triggered by recent decrease in matric pass rates. A delegation of Alumni from class of 1986,1989 and 1996 met with the school online to understand the challenges with the intention to assist the school to maintain the excellence that has spanned decades.
The school outlined its challenges amongst many as overcrowding, lack of discipline, drug abuse and various resources for effective teaching.
The Alumni delegation also realised that many Alumni have been involved in supporting the school as individual and as classes. It was therefore decided that it will be more effective for Mbilwi Alumni to pour resources into one pot so that the support of the school will be well coordinated with a meaningful impact.
To date, the Association has been registered with 6 directors from classes of 86,89 and 96. The association is also registered with SARS.
Objectives
1. To attract resources from individuals and business into one pool in order to assist Mbilwi Secondary School in a coordinated and structured manner
2. To assist Mbilwi Secondary School to be the best Mathematics and Science school
3. To build an alumni network that will offer a transparent and meaningful platform to give back to the school
4. To build an Alumni database that can be leveraged by members for social and business development activities
Mbilwi Senior Secondary School was started in 1979 as a Science School (refer to the curriculum for subjects done at this school). Mbilwi Secondary is one of the schools which started from the top to the bottom, i.e. it started in 1979 with Grade 11 (STD 9) and Grade 12 (STD 10). It is the only school we know which started with the top classes (grade 11 and 12) and then evolved downwards to lower grades as the years goes by. The premises which Mbilwi Secondary School occupies have a longer history than Mbilwi Senior Secondary School. Briefly this school was built in 1968/69 as a special school for the then children of chiefs and indunas of the Venda homeland. It existed as such until 1973/74 and it was used as Venda College of Education in 1975/6.
Mbilwi Senior Secondary School introduced Grade 8 (STD 6 ) IN 1989. One of the main reasons for such an introduction was the fact that most of the learners coming for Grade 10 (Std 8) were lacking back-ground and therefore if Mbilwi prepares its own learners from Grade 8 they would reach Grade 12 (STD10) properly prepared. The other reason was that some schools felt that Mbilwi is doing better because it is just taking over their good learners.
By 1993 we saw a dramatic change in Grade 12 results when our first STD 6 ( grade 08 ) learners were doing Grade 12, and we proved the point that if the learners were not properly taught in lower Grades they lack background which make it difficult for them to pass Grade 12 examinations.
I find myself highly honoured and privileged to have been entrusted, with the task of bringing to life, that which took place thirty three years ago, which is the establishment of the Mbilwi Senior Secondary School, and which I did not only witness, but initiated.
This, however, does not rule out the fact that, the founding of Mbilwi was a collective effort of the Department of the time, as Chief Inspector [1977 – 1979], I happened to be at the head of planning and controlling arms of that Department; which was faced with innumerable and insurmountable problems, ranging from inadequately trained teachers to shortage if not lack of classroom accommodation, high pupil-teacher ratio, reduction of primary school years from 8 to 7, by phasing out Std 6 and thereafter the restructuring of primary and secondary education into Junior Primary [A – 1], Senior Primary [2 – 4], Junior Secondary [5 – 7] and Senior Secondary [8 – 10]. This means Std. 5 was a Junior Secondary class but due to lack of accommodation, it was left in the Senior Primary school to make use of the facilities vacated by the former Std. 6 classes, which was no more.
As a result of this phasing out, those pupils who write Stds 5 and 6 examinations in 1976, found themselves in the same Form 1 class in 1977. This abnormal increase in Form 1 enrolment created further problems for the department. When the department appeared to be in a dilemma, fortune played into our hands. The then Department of Bantu Education in their attempts to separate Blacks from Blacks, and sons of mahosi from sons of vhalanda, had decided to put up a prefabricated school in order to make provision for Venda [vhakololo] as Boaparankwe would be solely left for Pedi [vhakololo].
The new school was constructed here, at this very spot, but as it was imposed upon the Venda, it cut across their culture and collided with their traditions. Consequently the Mahosi silently resisted it.
As a result it started with teachers but with very few children. One Khosi said: If I send my prince there, it means, I would have installed him as Khosi and he could kill me after completion in order to take over. In this way the school aborted. By this time JSOK and PTC were at Tshisimani.
As the JSOK College at Marude, was not yet completed, the JSOK students were sent here to temporarily make use of the vacant school buildings until theirs was completed. When JSOK students went to their college, Tshavhakololo still remained empty. As Makwarela J.P. had poor accommodation, its children were transferred here to make use of the empty classrooms.
When we thought that the Junior Primary school was properly accommodated, complaints from Miluwani community, trickled to Circuit Office that their children were exposed to heavy traffic on the busy road between Miluwani and the new school.
In the Department, planning was on for restructuring secondary education but the need for Science and Maths teachers increased in intensity.
Unless heaven intervened, the beleaguered department would not have been in a position to solve this problem as its resources had become over-stretched. In order to cope with the new situation, several schools were set aside for the teaching of these subjects, but still enough teachers were not available while the distances between the schools were such that students had to travel long distances on foot as there were no means of transport.
The communities blamed the Circuit Inspector for this, while the Circuit Inspectors passed the blame on to Head Office. As a temporary solution, the decision was modified in order to help the students but the problem remained as teachers for science and Maths were very few. In other words it was Tshivhase, Thengwe, Mphephu, Mphaphuli, Lwenzhe and Kutama where Matamba, Ngobeli, Rathando, Ratshitanga, Muloiwa and Ramasindi, could handle these subjects with confidence.
In other schools children and teachers were teaching each other.
As no short term solution was possible, and while trying to cope with the situation, the department turned to medium and long term solutions.
Head Office turned its eyes on the prefab. Buildings used by J.P.S against which parents were blaming management as road accidents were increasing.
We agreed at Head Office that J.P.S should vacate the old Tshavhakololo into a secondary school, specifically established for Science and Maths.
This was in 1978. A question may arise, why all this, when Dimani was already in existence?
The original idea for Dimani was a technically orientated high school,
but as the Department could not exercise full control over the school whose white staff was mainly
the so-called seconded teachers,
drawing their salaries directly from Pretoria, it unfortunately without farms on which to operate.
To set the ball rolling, the Mphaphuli Territorial Council instead of being advised to submit application forms, as this was the procedure, was asked to supply the name of the school and as they delayed, the name Mbilwi, came from Head Office and conveyed to them. We knew they would not object as it is the name of their Headquarters. The School Advisor, brother Rousseau in whom the Department had confidence and who would not let us down, was ordered to undertake a campaign of looking for a principal and he found him in a certain Potgieter at Lemana who had also to look for teachers, and through him Leach joined the staff later in 1979.
These two good brothers and friends undertook the mammoth task of organizing and laying the foundation for the school which officially opened in 1979.
The original idea was that it would cater for Std 8 – 10 (grade 8 – 12), specializing in Science, Maths and Natural Sciences. This was the beginning of Mbilwi Senior Secondary School. The school co-incidentally occupied the same site on which the pioneer of the teaching of Science and Maths in secondary school, in this part of Africa, the late Professor Mathivha one of the great sons of Venda, had intended to build the Mphaphuli High School, but was derailed by the then government through its Native Commissioner, who pushed it further South to where Raluswielo is. Professor Mathivha name crops up as a man who could teach any subject as long as there was a text book. In this respect he taught Maths while at the same time learning it with his students. So this was the realization of the dreams he had 20 years before Mbilwi came into existence [1959].
After Circuit Offices in consultation with Head Office, had finalized the appointments, the staff was constituted as follows: Mr. T. Potgieter, the principal, Professor I.P. Matamba P/Sc, std 9 and std 10, Mr. J N. Muloiwa Maths std 9 and std 10, Mrs. R.N. Mathivha Venda and Geography, Mrs. Benecke English std 10, Messrs Taute [soldier] Maths std 9 and Mr. Fletcher, Biology std 9 and std 10, and Leach joined the staff later in the year. Mrs. Bessenger Biology std 9 and std 10 and Mrs Coetzee Library. Mr. Frans Netshiluvhi and Mrs. Ramathikhithi were responsible for surroundings and cleaning. Std 9 pupils who came from several schools, had four classes while Std 10 consisted of students from Mphaphuli and two from Tshivhase who had followed their teacher.
After Potgieter was deployed to Head Office as Advisor, in order to help Science and Maths teachers in the region, Mr. Leah was appointed as Principal. When the local white teachers complained that the post was not advertised, as a Director General of the Department, I went to Pretoria and told them we do not want the school to fail by getting somebody we did not know from outside. Leach who started with the school would continue where Potgieter left. In 1980 it produced its students and thereafter it established its own tradition and culture until it became one of, if not the best Maths and Science school in the region as well as in the country. In this way the school achieved the purpose for which it was intended. Discipline, diligence, patriotism and loyalty to the course the school set to achieve, were rooted and permeated the soul and spirit of the school throughout until it became a shining star illuminating the darkness of this era.
Mbilwi, the name which means [heart-] in Venda, and heart which is the center of life, is the center of Mphaphuli territory which co-incidentally, became the commercial and economic center of Venda, and now counted among the schools if not the best of Science and Maths in the rainbow country.
May Mbilwi which has become the heart of the teaching of Science subjects in South Africa, in this century of advanced technology, become the heart of teaching of these subjects in Africa. This is possible as Africa is looking to South Africa for leadership, as it is happening in the political sphere. Is there any need to elaborate this, when the African parliament is already in session in Gauteng?
