Durban - A principal has been accused of extorting money from unsuspecting parents under the pretence of a donation towards the no-fees school.
Last year, the Department of Education, the principal and the school governing body had all apparently agreed that parents sending their children to this primary school would not have to pay school fees.
One of the parents told The Daily News yesterday that they were embarrassed by the actions of their principal who had allegedly announced on two separate occasions that fees would not be paid because theirs was a quintile 3 school - a no-fees school.
The parent claimed the principal had made the announcements during the Grade R farewell and the school awards ceremony.
Members of the school governing body had apparently seen the letter last year from the Department of Education about the fees.
However, parents have been complaining that the principal was apparently forcing them to pay school fees, he said.
The school fees in 2019 were R550 for all grades but this year the principal was allegedly asking the parents of new pupils to make a “R500 donation” instead.
“Many parents are crying because they were forced to pay the donation. If the parent refuses to pay the donation, he refuses to take the children. He says go and borrow from a loan shark or take a bank loan,” said a parent.
“The school took in pupils with parents who could not make ends meet, they are poor and the Department of Education is aware of it,” he said.
Another parent, who asked not to be named for fear of victimisation, said her main concern was that other parents had gone to loan sharks to borrow money for the “donation”.
“If a parent came with less than R500, the principal would tell the parent to make a plan to pay the rest but the parent should not tell others.
“Many parents brought their receipts after hearing that the school did not charge fees. If school fees were R550 and the donation is R500, that means he is offering a R50 discount,” she said.
She also said it was the previous principal who had asked the department to reduce school fees because parents could not afford to pay.
Department spokesperson Kwazi Mthethwa said the department would look into the matter.
“We don’t know whether the allegations are true or false, therefore we will have to check with our officials,” Mthethwa said.