Durban - About 300 pupils enrolled at a private high school in the Durban city centre fear they have been duped by the unregistered school into paying school fees without guarantees of receiving a recognised qualification.
They are now calling for the Department of Education, which de-registered the school in 2015, to intervene.
In response, the department has promised a crackdown on illegal schools operating in the province.
African Vision Secondary School has two campuses - one in Joe Slovo (Field) Street that caters for pupils from Grades 8 to 12, and another in Wills Road, Berea, that has 35 pupils who want to improve their matric results.
However, many have complained to the Daily News that despite paying their annual school fees, they were not registered with the department to write their matric subjects.
Pupils apparently paid between R5100 and R8950 a year, depending on the grade they were in and the number of subjects they intended completing.
Yolisa Qwayethe, 24, of Sherwood, who registered at the school’s Berea campus to improve her matric marks in accounting and mathematics, was angry and sad at being “deceived” by the school.
She wants the R4500 she paid the school returned.
“I only realised the school was not registered when I went to the department at the end of last year to check if I was registered for my final matric papers,” she said.
While she was initially told she was not registered, tutors at the school assured her that she was, and promised she would be able to write the exams.
Qwayethe said that when she and other students confronted the school about the situation, they were offered free tuition this year.
The Daily News recently visited the Berea campus and found that classes were still taking place, despite the school being de-registered.
Pupils spoken to were unaware of the school’s de-registered status.
Ntombenhle Ngcobo, 22, and Samkelisiwe Shangase, 21, both of uMlazi, enrolled with the school to improve two of their matric subjects each.
Ngcobo wanted to improve her mathematics and physical science results, while Shangase wanted to improve her English and economics marks.
Ngcobo had already paid R1050 and Shangase had paid R500 towards her tuition, and had planned to pay the full-term fee before speaking to the Daily News.
Roger Kahamire, a director at the school, insisted the school was registered and provided the Daily News with its registration number.
However, the department said this number was invalid.
Some pupils have complained about paying the school to re-write some of their matric subjects, but claimed the school did not register them for the final matric exams, so that they could re-write their papers. Picture: Motshwari Mofokeng
Kahamire said the onus was on the pupils, and not the school, to register with the department for their matric exams. He said they were a finishing school and did not play a role in registering pupils for the final matric exams.
When asked about the pupils enrolled for Grades 8 to 11 at the school and whether the education they were receiving was recognised, Kahamire insisted that the school was registered with the department.
Kahamire said those who registered with the school last year but did not write their matric exams could return this year.
He shifted the blame for the predicament on the school’s tutor, Frank Ngcube, who he claimed had issued “fake timetables” and promised to register the pupils.
When asked why no action was taken against Ngcube if the school was indeed registered, Kahamire said they were still “collecting evidence and getting advice from the school’s lawyer”.
Ngcube, however, denied the allegations against him.
“When I arrived at the school in 2015, it was already in trouble with the department, which led to the school being de-registered. The department gave the school until 2016 to stop operating. At the beginning of this year, I left because I could not continue to teach at an unregistered school,” said Ngcube.
Education department spokesperson Kwazi Mthethwa confirmed the school was not registered.
He said schools applying for registration had to go through a rigorous process, which included verifying that its teachers were qualified and the standard of classrooms.
He said that African Vision did not meet the stringent requirements and was de-registered. The school’s pupils, Mthethwa said, would not be able to write exams set by the department.
This has prompted the department to crack down
on illegal schools operating
in Durban.
“The department will do a proper follow-up on the school by launching an investigation,” Mthethwa said.
“The MEC has also launched an intervention task team that will inspect all independent schools in the province to establish if those are operating legally or not.
“If the school is not legitimate, pupils are unable to study or write exams under that school,” he said.
Mthethwa said the basic education quality assurance body, uMalusi, determined if pupils could write the final matric papers based on whether the school they attended was registered.