SCHOOL OF HORROR

Kweneng Regional Education Director Benson Rauwe has admitted that they are running helter skelter trying to find solutions to an uproar unfolding in his region.Parents residing in the catchment areas of Salajwe village are said to be furious and demanding that authorities should not dare place their children at Lempu Junior Secondary School for the next academic year of 2020. Lempu is a secondary school that was hit by a condition known as ‘Mass Hysteria’ early this year. More than 100 students were admitted at Scottish Livingstone Hospital in Molepolole said to be suffering from the bizarre condition. The condition made children wobbly while others could not walk. Doctors are yet to establish the cause of the condition or find anything that can lead them to a cure. Meanwhile students are reported to be battling with the condition to this day. Parents are not ready to gamble with their children’s future and are suggesting that while the government is busy establishing the cause their children should be sent elsewhere. Others have even gone an extra mile by transferring their children from the school with the intention of distancing them entirely from the mass hysteria scourge.The Midweek Sun visited the regional director in Molepolole this week, who openly admitted that they are in a painful situation as more than 90 percent of parents have instructed them to place their children in neighbouring villages of Letlhakeng or Takatokwane. “Lempu has been admitting students from the villages of Monwane, Khudumelapye, Malwelwe, Kaudwane and Sorilatholo however parents are no longer comfortable with their children schooling there. “This means that only the people of Salajwe are left to deal with the condition,” Rauwe said.He said the school had 622 pupils and more than 50 teachers but as of this past Tuesday, information gathered was that since the school reopened last month, 95 students had not returned to school. “30 of those are in Form 3, 27 in Form 2 classes while 35 are Form 1s and it should be noted that they are all girls,” he said. Rauwe said that according to a personal investigation he carried out, it does not seem like the students will return to school anytime soon. Their health he said is seemingly deteriorating and their hands seemingly stiff now. It was under such circumstances that they took a decision that the affected students will be readmitted next year. Nevertheless he is worried that Lempu School could become a white elephant since everybody wants out. “We are expecting a worst case scenario because I do no see parents easily having a change of heart. “However we are busy refurbishing the school and hoping that parents will let their children school in Salajwe,” he said. He said they have no answers yet about the condition but myths thrown around are that ghosts are haunting the school while others believe the school is cursed. He said the affected students told them that they saw small looking creatures described as Thokolosi while others said that donkeys and goats appear at the windows at night. “Those are all myths and we cannot really know if there are some truths to the stories because nobody can corroborate their claims,” Rauwe said. HEADMASTER REDEPLOYED AT LEMPU The Midweek Sun understands that Lempu School Head Barulaganye Moseki has been redeployed and the government is waiting to bring a new headmaster at the school. It is said that the parents were not in a negotiating mood as they requested that Moseki be removed from the school. They were dead serious about it and the ministry had to act quickly. Two other officials at the school are said to have also walked out. However, Rauwe remained cagey saying the matter was at management level and could not comment on it. MASS HYSTERIA TRACED IN MPHUTE Meanwhile the Kweneng region might as well prepare for the worst as the condition has allegedly spread to Mphuthe School in Letlhakeng. According to reliable sources at the school, two students recently showed signs of the bizarre condition. However, the headmaster Meshack Sechele and his team are said to have dealt with the matter swiftly and there are no signs of the condition spreading. Sources at the school said that the headmaster has been talking to the children and it remains a mystery what he said to them that made the condition not to spread like in Lempu. Some even wonder if all the children are affected or some of them are just attention seekers. The affected pupils are said to have recently transferred from Lempu School. When visited at his school, Sechele and his deputy Kedumetse Mokganele said that they could not comment on the matter. They admitted that they have been seeing many parents coming to them asking that their children come to school in Mphuthe. “It will mean admitting a large number here but we do not have facilities to accommodate a large number in Mphuthe and we are hopeful that the region will find a solution,” Sechele said. THE MIDWEEK SUN CHASED AWAY FROM KHUDUMELAPYE VILLAGE In Khudumelapye, a village just 22 km away from Letlhakeng and said to have a high number of parents wanting nothing to do with Lempu School, The Midweek Sun crew was chased away by the leaders, led by Kgosi Othusitse Mosimane.Kgosi and his advisors accompanied by Khudumelapye Primary School Head and other officers said to be from the clinic said that they do not want to speak to the media without the involvement of the government. “Please leave our village, nobody informed us of your visit and if you stubbornly do interviews here and you are attacked or something, don’t come back here crying,” they said. Interestingly, this publication learnt that the village leaders are allegedly the ones hellbent on ensuring that their children be removed from Lempu. Which could only suggest that they have also turned their backs on Lempu School.