Disillusioned art teacher calls it quits
Seasoned rural school art teacher quits teaching.
VETERAN art teacher Memorial Biyela-Mnguni, who had a passion for developing young artists from underprivileged rural schools, has quit teaching.
With more than 20 years of experience teaching art, Biyela-Mnguni, of KwaMsane, Mtubatuba, complained about the Department of Education’s ‘neglect of the subject in especially rural schools’ before stepping down..
‘As an artist I feel let down by the Department of Education, for forcing me to leave teaching, even though I love it so much.
‘As teachers we are at schools because we want to empower the African child, so I also hoped through the use of art, I was going to achieve my goal of making a difference in the lives of pupils I taught.
‘On two occasions I was demoralised when art was phased out in schools where I taught the subject,’ said Biyela-Mnguni.
It was the unfulfilled promises she got from school principals when they employed her, which she feels most aggrieved about.
‘I struggled to get support for the subject from principals. When they employed me they would promise full support for my art requirements, but that never materialised.’
‘At one school there was no classroom for art pupils, forcing me to teach under the tree, and in another I was forced to teach my pupils in a steamy teacher’s cottage, which had a negative impact on my pupils’ performance,’ she said.
Biyela-Mnguni requested the Department of Education to be more supportive of pupils interested into making art their future careers.
