Cape Town – At least 31 independent schools subsidised by the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) are failing to comply with the department’s regulations.
According to the department, this was due to schools experiencing challenges with registration of their teachers with the Council of Educators Sace.
Since the start of the year about eight schools have been found to have employed unqualified teachers or student teachers.
The Darul Islam Islamic High School recently landed in hot water after it was found to be non-compliant with all the WCED registration requirements for independent schools.
The department said the school relocated without informing it, did not apply for accreditation with Umalusi and due to a high staff turnover, not all teachers were registered with the Sace.
WCED spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said that when schools are non-compliant it results in schools not being able to become Umalusi accredited.
“Compliance issues relate mainly to Sace registration certificates from educators in various stages of application and Umalusi accreditation also in various stages of application.
“Each school has received a letter of non-compliance with due dates to provide the outstanding information. This information is being received from the schools on a weekly basis.”
Sace chief executive officer Ella Mapula Mokgalane said some teachers experienced registration challenges due to submitting incorrect documents.
“Some are not checking up on their emails to see if there are any responses from Sace regarding their outstanding registration requirements. We have applicants who use agents to register for them, and Sace distances itself from such practices.”
In a response to questions from ANC provincial spokesperson on education Khalid Sayed about the Darul Islam Islamic school, MEC Debbie Schäfer said the school made representations that showed it put measures in place to address its shortcomings.
“A verification check on Umalusi’s website revealed that the school applied for accreditation and currently falls within their window period.
’’Educators were registered with Sace. The school replaced the two unqualified educators and submitted their Sace certificates and qualifications,” said Schäfer.
Umalusi spokesperson Lucky Ditaunyane said the Darul Islam Islamic High School has submitted the necessary information requested by Umalusi last month for a virtual site visit.
Sayed they were concerned with the situation and would monitor closely the implementation of the WCED’s remedial approach.
Cape Times