Some of the kids who attended an illegal school in Khayelitsha were prevented by residents from enrolling at a registered school.
|||Cape Town - Some of the children who had been attending an illegal school in Khayelitsha were prevented by residents from enrolling at a registered school on Thursday, Education MEC Donald Grant said.
The illegal school, which uses two sites, one in Kuyasa and the other in Zwelitsha, opened in January and uses volunteer teachers.
In February, about 160 children were attending the school, although it is believed this number has decreased.
Grant said parents were told earlier this week they could begin enrolling their children at the Ludwe Ngamlana Primary School as the department had provided mobile classrooms.
“Yesterday (Thursday), however, some community members sought to disrupt this process, preventing learners from enrolling at the school.”
Six children were enrolled successfully on Thursday.
Grant said: “We believe there are parents who do want to enrol their children in Ludwe Ngamlana Primary School, but are being intimidated or prevented from doing so. I appeal to these parents to ignore these people and put the interests of their children first. If they do not accept this offer, they are essentially breaking the law and their children will not have the opportunity to progress to the next grade at the end of the year.”
The MEC said although residents were happy for the children to use the mobile classrooms, they wanted the classes to be separate from Ludwe Ngamlana, under separate management and with the same teachers who had been teaching at the illegal school.
Parent Andile Lili said Ludwe Ngamlana could accommodate 1 100 children, but had 1 400 pupils. The parents wanted Zwelitsha Primary to be on one of the two sites where the children had been going to school for four months. They also wanted the teachers who had been working at the two sites to continue teaching the children.
Grant said the department did not employ teachers without ensuring they had the necessary qualifications.
“We have before us a solution, one that benefits the learners. They now have the opportunity to be integrated into a functioning school environment, which has the relevant facilities, equipment and textbooks.”
Catch-up classes would be arranged for the pupils, Grant said.
Cape Argus