Cape Town - A bitter dispute is raging in Wellington after Education MEC Debbie Schäfer revealed that Voor-Groenberg Primary School might be closed by December 31.
In a notification letter to Cape Winelands education district director Juan Benjamin, Schäfer gave reasons provided to her regarding the possible closure, saying there was no indication of an increase in learner numbers at the school in the near future.
Schäfer said at present 34 learners were enrolled at the school, at which there had been a low level of enrolment over the past five years.
“The school has three classrooms, which can accommodate 120 learners. In terms of the regulations, this school is classified as a micro-primary school, which has a capacity of less than 135 learners, and the present enrolment is significantly less,” Schäfer said.
Voor-Groenberg Primary School's acting principal, Doreen Fortuin, said there were two permanent teachers at the school, who would move to another school with learners, “but there is also a contracted Grade 1 teacher, the administrator and the school’s caretaker, who will be unemployed due to the school’s migration”.
Fortuin said she had been at the school for almost 19 years. “The school was officially opened in 1960, and the closing down of the school would break the community, as they depend on it,” she said.
However, Schäfer said Wagenmakersvallei Primary School’s governing body had indicated there was sufficient accommodation at the school for Voor-Groenberg learners, who the MEC said would receive better opportunities regarding single-grade teaching and extra-curricular activities.
Community activist Jerry Seale said: “The Western Cape Education Department is a disgrace, and pathetic in the way they treat our communities in rural areas when it comes to closing of schools or failure to upgrade schools.”
Khalid Sayed, ANC provincial spokesperson on education, said there was little transparency in the plan for Voor-Groenberg Primary School and that the MEC and Education Department "continued to play games" with the lives of poor children.
Sayed claimed that the ANC had repeatedly asked for a provincial schools plan to be tabled in a transparent way, to detail which schools would be closed and reasons for closures. “If it exists, this plan is hidden from affected role-players such as parents, educators and learners,” he said.
Cape Argus