The doors of learning were slammed shut against many pupils in various parts of the country as schools re-opened last week and again this week. In many cases the lock-outs were illegal, some provincial officials said this week.
The South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu), the Centre for Applied Legal Studies (Cals) and the Education Rights Project (ERP) said reliable data was impossible to obtain, but work on the ground suggested illegal exclusions, as well as classroom conditions that did not promote learning, still affected thousands of children.
Sadtu said many pupils who failed matric last year had been turned away, particularly at poor schools. About 140Â 000 (30%) pupils failed last year.
Provincial heads insist the start of the school year went well. But only one province could provide provisional statistics on school attendances.
Western Cape said about 950Â 000 learners attended school on Wednesday at 1Â 471 schools in the province, and that teaching and learning did not take place “at a few schools”.
In the southern Cape, “about 100 learners weren’t picked up” (by legally prescribed free transport if the nearest school is more than 5km from home).
In Khayelitsha, one high school had two queues on Wednesday, said the ERP’s Brian Ramadiro. “One is for those parents or learners who have ‘difficulties’, the other for those without ‘difficulties’.
“Basically, the queues are for those who have the full school fees of R200, and for those who have a portion or none at all. Those who have school fees are admitted first.”
By Thursday, KwaZulu-Natal was not sure how many schools it has (“more than 6Â 000”). Brandon Pillay of the ERP said: “I have received about a dozen phone calls [from around that province] and about 15 parents have come to my house with fees-related complaints.”
Limpopo said it provided no transport because it ensured all its 4Â 300 schools were within 5km of every pupil.
But Cals’s Stuart Wilson writes in the latest edition of the South African Journal on Human Rights: “At Mopel Primary School in the Waterberg District of Limpopo Province … pupils never proceed to secondary school, because the nearest is over 70km away, there is no taxi service, and it is doubtful whether largely unemployed parents would be able to afford it if there was”.
Eastern Cape said it “so far had no negative reports”. The ERP said that at two schools, failed matriculants were not readmitted: “The principals seem to fear that these learners will increase the failure rate.”
At one Gauteng school, Azara Secondary in Thembelihle, exclusions sparked tension. About 200 pupils and parents, and several armed and uniformed police officers, were outside the locked gates of the school on Tuesday morning. There were coordinated volleys of “Amandla”, and handwritten cardboard signs calling for free education and admission to schools.
In the principal’s office, about 40 people were in a meeting chaired by Gauteng department of education district 11 officer Sipho Mkhulize. Also present were the principal, learner representatives, the school governing body, police and a member of Cals.
Panyaza Lesufi, spokesperson for the Gauteng education minister, later arrived with a delegation.
Discussion revolved around classroom overcrowding — 1Â 158 pupils had enrolled, while 37 teachers were on duty. Unregistered pupils were still asking to be enrolled, but the principal had apparently declared the school “full”.
Lesufi objected: “Only the provincial minister can declare schools full, and she hasn’t done so yet.” He said many schools were turning away pupils on other illegal grounds — such as the failure to pay registration fees.
Cals has supplied the Mail & Guardian with names and addresses of about 160 pupils denied access to schools in Thembelihle, as well as the reasons they said the schools had provided. All the reasons, including non-payment of school fees and the inability to produce report cards, were illegal, Wilson said.
Lesufi told the meeting at Azara that 12 schools in Soweto were empty. “That’s not because they’re closed: the teachers are there. But parents are sending their children to schools where they think they [pupils] will succeed.”
He also said Gauteng education minister Angie Motshekga had announced that pupils not being in school was a “province-wide” problem. Affected areas included Ekurhuleni West, Johannesburg South and Thembelihle.
The ministry of education had not replied to the M&G’s written questions by the time the newspaper went to print.
Paperless in the Eastern Cape
Meanwhile, thousands of Eastern Cape schools opened for the new school year this week without essential stationery, including basics such as pencils and paper, writes Haru Mutasa.
A lack of planning by the province’s education department is to blame for the blunder. “We acknowledge that the process of delivering stationery was carried out too late,” said Mkhangeli Matome, Eastern Cape education minister.
The R59-million stationery tender was awarded to successful bidders only on December 20, long after schools had closed for the holidays. The stationery could only be delivered on January 17, when teachers in the province returned to their schools, making it impossible for the province’s 6 500 schools to receive materials before they opened on Wednesday.
Matome said he had been assured that all Eastern Cape schools would receive stationery by the end of January. “Tenders for 2006 will be put through as early as April this year so that by June things will be sorted out and a situation like this one will not happen again.”
The Eastern Cape education system is beset with problems. Matric pass rates dropped from 60% in 2003 to just 53, 5% in 2004, making it the province with the lowest pass rate in the country. Nine schools did not have a single student who passed and 23 other schools recorded a mere 10% pass rate.
Other pressing matters include the supply of school furniture for 2004 and 2005, and the school nutrition programme tender for 2004 and 2005. Both have been delayed by legal challenges and alleged mismanagement.
Additional reporting by Motlatsi Lebea, Cheri-Ann James and Lloyd Gedye