IT TOOK a considerable time for the bubble to burst at Sans Souci Girls' High School.
My daughter attended Sans Souci from Grade 8 in 2002 to Grade 12 in 2006 and matriculated as the top learner at the school. In my view, despite my daughter’s academic achievements, the principal, Mrs Murray, victimised my daughter in apparent retaliation/revenge of my no-nonsense attitude towards the school’s disregard for compliance with the South African School’s Act.
From past experience, I can state that during my interaction with the principal it was quite evident that she was never well-informed about educational matters relating to public schools, despite having been a principal for a considerable number of years.
One incident that springs to mind is when I requested a copy of my daughter’s Standard 9 Mathematics Examination Question Papers and Answer Books and the corresponding Mathematics Memoranda after the June examination in 2005.
To offset the photocopying of the requested material, I transferred R10 to the school’s bank account.
Mrs Murray subsequently returned the money the same day, with my daughter stating it was the school’s property. Sadly, the circuit manager at the time was also not aware of the 50-plus page publication on "Regulations Pertaining to Senior Certificate Examinations".
Fortunately, the principal had to eat humble pie after receiving a facsimile from a senior manager at the department of education, who instructed her to abide by the regulations and to release the necessary documentation to me as requested, and as per regulations.
So, I am well aware of Mrs Murray’s ignorance regarding educational matters. I am also not at all surprised by her latest flouting of the law. Although my daughter collected most of the academic trophies at the awards evening in matric, including the highest award at the school, i.e. the prestigious Sans Souci Dux, she was victimised when the principal deliberately omitted any photos of her from the 2006 Sans Souci matric yearbook.
The principal also omitted the most prestigious award, which was awarded to my daughter, from the 2006 yearbook. This clearly shows to what extent the principal was prepared to go to victimise my child, instead of celebrating my daughter’s academic achievements, as any other compassionate principal would have done.
Mrs Murray initially blamed the publisher of the yearbook for the error. However, the publisher stated that there was very little room for error in her approach and especially in Mrs Murray’s case, since the principal was a very difficult customer to please, and was extremely meticulous with the yearbook and would not have made an error by omitting the final page from the yearbook.
The records of the publisher also reflect that the missing page was never forwarded to her; effectively indisputably proving that Mrs Murray was trying to cover up her victimisation by fabricating a lie.
It should also be noted that Mrs Murray could not upon request provide a copy of the page that was "apparently" omitted from the 2006 matric yearbook.
To add further insult to injury, when the principal discovered that my daughter, was the top Senior Certificate candidate at her school, she immediately arranged to leave the school before the results were released to the matriculants.
At 11.45am the principal drove through the gates of the school, while the matriculants were waiting outside the school’s premises for the gates to be opened so that they could access their Senior Certificate examination results.
The question is: "What type of principal does not want to share in the achievements and glory of her most senior learners – the matriculants – on a very special day that signals the end of twelve years of their schooling?"
Instead, Sans Souci’s principal, Mrs Murray, decided to drive away from the school and her matriculants of 2006, fifteen minutes before the results were released to her matriculants.
This is but one of numerous unjust treatments Mrs Murray meted out to learners at Sans Souci.
Should a principal like Mrs Murray continue to be placed in charge of our future leaders? You be the judge.
● Ismail is the father of the top matric student at San Souci in 2006