Concern as Cape schools may close

Cape Town - 141021 - Girls and boys at Beauvallon Secondary School in Valhalla Park are forced to use the same toilets and classrooms have no electricity. There is lots of graffiti in various classrooms and some classrooms have broken down walls or the walls have holes in them. Reporter: Ilse Fredericks.Picture: David Ritchie (083 652 4951)

Cape Town - 141021 - Girls and boys at Beauvallon Secondary School in Valhalla Park are forced to use the same toilets and classrooms have no electricity. There is lots of graffiti in various classrooms and some classrooms have broken down walls or the walls have holes in them. Reporter: Ilse Fredericks.Picture: David Ritchie (083 652 4951)

Published Apr 16, 2015

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Cape Town - Two Cape Town schools that were targeted for closure nearly three years ago but were offered a lifeline may have finally lost the battle to keep their doors open.

On Wednesday the Concerned Education Forum said two officials visited Beauvallon Secondary in Valhalla Park and Protea Primary in Bonteheuwel on Monday and told the principals that a decision had been made to “pursue a process to close down the two schools”.

Vanessa le Roux, co-ordinator of Save our Schools, which has also been fighting school closures, said the schools had been informed by the officials that the closure process had been set in motion.

But Education MEC Debbie Schäfer told the Cape Argus on Wednesday that these had been “exploratory talks”.

In 2012, a number of schools, including Beauvallon and Protea, were identified for possible closure by the department.

Former Education MEC Donald Grant announced in October that year that seven of the schools would remain open and some of the remaining schools decided to fight the matter in court.

In December last year the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein ruled that 16 schools be closed but that Beauvallon would remain open.

In January the schools indicated that they were taking their fight to the Constitutional Court, but in February Schäfer announced that 14 of the schools had accepted a proposal from the provincial government. The schools would not go to the Constitutional Court and the department would start the process afresh.

Brian Isaacs, secretary of the forum, said it would send a letter demanding the department stop its “war against poor schools”, warning that the department’s “hostile attitude” to such school would lead to an “uprising of great proportion”.

Schäfer’s spokeswoman, Jessica Shelver, said the MEC had not received any submissions requesting permission to pursue the formal closure process.

“She has, however, been informed that there are some schools that the department would like to explore as possible closure cases and would like to discuss that possibility with them. It is not part of a formal process, and is exploratory at this stage.”

She said the department was extremely concerned about “our poor learners” and any possible closure would only be recommended if there were better opportunities for the pupils elsewhere.

“We will assess school closure proposals from the department based on the merits of their submissions. If they are well motivated they may be approved so that a formal process of consultation can start. They may also not be. It is essential that we do what is best for our learners, and if closing a school is best, that is what we need to do. If it is not best, it will not be done.”

Le Roux said: “We just want to know how they can close schools when so many children don’t have a school.”

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