Shakeel Isseri was attacked during a robbery at Mziwamandla High School while monitoring a matric final paper. Picture: Tumi Pakkies/ Independent Newspapers
A KZN Department of Education (DoE) official is recovering after being attacked by a group of armed men, while he was monitoring a matric exam session at a school in Umlazi on Monday.
Shakeel Isseri, of Newlands West, said the incident happened at Mziwamandla High School.
Muzi Mahlambi, spokesman for the KZN DoE, confirmed the incident and said it happened after the morning exam session had finished.
Isseri told the POST that the suspects, carrying guns and sticks, were hiding behind a block of classrooms.
“I am a subject advisor for the department. I was monitoring the Life Science Paper 2, which finished at 11.30am. As a monitor, I was overseeing the consolidation of the scripts and finalising the stats, ensuring that documents were completed. I had to approve the final submission and make sure all the exam information was collated.
“During this time, I had to move from one classroom to the other. It was then that I was confronted by the suspects. They fired a warning shot in the air. I think that was to get my full attention,” he said.
Isseri - a Subject Advisor, managing Creative Arts and Life Skills in the Umlazi District - has been employed in education from the year 1985. He has also represented arts and culture abroad as a delegate of the Ustad Ravi Foundation for Indian Music.
He said everything happened so fast, He was concerned for his safety, that of his colleagues and pupils, and the exam papers.
Read the full interview about what unfolded in this week’s edition of the POST.
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