PUPIL money lenders are allegedly burying other learners in debt.
It is affecting the learning process at St Theresa High School.
This was disclosed by the Headteacher Albert Sihlongonyane during the school’s end-of-year parents meeting held shortly before the conclusion of the school calendar year.
Speaking during an interview which was a follow-up to the meeting, Sihlongonyane reluctantly revealed that the figures involved varied. For an example, he said a pupil who borrows an amount of E20 from the lender, who in turn exploit the vulnerable needy lot by charging high interest rates like 50%.
Ultimately, he said a child who borrows an amount of E20 may end up with a debt of E100 or even more.
“This makes it difficult for the borrower to pay back, and by so doing they get trapped in the cycle of debt. They end up not coming to school, because they would be apprehensive of the huge debt they are failing to service, especially when threats get involved afterwards.
“The children fight because of this, that is what I was basically telling the parents, as stakeholders,” explained Sihlongonyane, who was not comfortable with the subject being discussed in the media.
He said the school had not yet explored the idea of getting the police involved.
During the parents meeting, Sihlongonyane told shocked parents that many pupils were increasingly relying on others who had turned into an illegal money lending business within the school premises, and disturbingly during school hours.
He said this was putting unnecessary pressure on the learners who get stuck in debt when they fail to service their loans.
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The distressed school administrator mentioned that, of late, he was receiving numerous calls from concerned parents when they see uniformed pupils roaming the streets of Manzini during school hours.
Concerned parents were told that one of the concerned adults ended up confronting one of the pupils, who admitted that she was not going to school because she was failing to pay back money she had borrowed from another learner.
Desperate and in need of cash, the pupil said she was delighted when another learner offered to lend her an undisclosed amount of money.
She said the school loan shark said she knew what it was like to need a little extra cash, and that she could pay her back the next month.
However, the pupil soon found the debt spiraling out of control and the school loan shark pursuing her. She told the concerned parent that the school loan shark had resorted to intimidation.
This got her to the point of not going to school, in order to avoid the loan shark.
During the meeting, parents learnt that the girl’s circumstances were far from unusual. They were told that quite a number of learners immersed themselves into debt, thinking they are just borrowing from a friend.
In the end, parents were told, such vulnerable pupils end up getting in financial difficulties.
Feelings of shame and isolation were said to be widespread among pupils who get themselves into financial difficulties.
The school administrator urged parents to talk to their children and warn them against engaging in money lending.
A clinical psychologist shared the same sentiments as the school administrator.
She noted that the high interests charged on some of the loans meant that for many, they were a curse instead of salvation.
She said the loans usually lead one down the path of unmanageable debt.
“It is even worse for a pupil who is not in gainful employment. Usually the learner would be placing hope on a parent to give them money. But what if they are broke on that particular month? It would mean that the learner will not be able to pay up,” she elaborated.
