Virtual schools UCT Online High School and Curro Delft were launched with much fanfare, but now some parents have raised concerns about learners' poor performance, glitches on the learning platforms and a lack of support.
While some learners were coping, concerns have been raised that not enough is being done for those learners falling behind.
UCT Online High School was launched in January when the first group of learners registered for Grade 8 to 11. There are 164 teachers for its 4 500 learners.
In a parents’ WhatsApp group for UCT’s high school, screen-shots show complaints about glitches on the learning platform and issuing of reports per term. Although the school said reports were sent in batches based on the learner's progress.
Thando Gajana a mother of a Grade 10 learner said she could not believe that her child failed some subjects and scored below 40% in English in the first term.
“She was (previously) in a private school in the Eastern Cape. She was very good at English. She was even in the debating team,” she said.
A parent of a Grade 10 learner from Krugersdorp, who spoke with Weekend Argus on condition of anonymity, was shocked to see her daughter’s mathematics marks.
“There is a huge discrepancy. Maths was her favourite subject and she usually gets grades between 60% to 80%.
“Now her marks were way too low. For instance, she got 10 out of 80 in the exam,” she said, adding that the child's uncle is a retired mathematics teacher who used to assist with lessons.
But not all parents had issues with the school.
Alicia Cyster of Stellenbosch was satisfied with her Grade 11 daughter’s performance and believed that the online learning in schools in 2020, as a result of Covid-19, allowed her to adapt quickly.
“I can say with all honesty that I will not ever regret enrolling my daughter at UCT Online High School. Personally, this has been the best decision for us.
“Halfway through the year we realised that she did better in her grades and I have got much more confidence that she puts in the effort and works according to a structured timetable,” she said.
Principal of the UCT Online High School Yandiswa Xhakaza said teachers offered support through content review in live sessions named Ask Me Anything and via email.
“Further guidance is provided by our support coaches who provide personalised support and guidance and our student wellbeing team who provide counselling, co-curricular activities through our 50 or so virtual clubs and career services,” said Xhakaza.
Curro Delft faced similar complaints. The virtual school has 700 learners and offered subjects such as robotics and coding.
Delft mother Nomabhotwe Balintulo has a son who is in Grade 10 at the school. She said her child and other children complained about the long hours they put in and the amount of homework.
Balintulo said she considered taking her son to another school in Constantia next year as he had already written an assessment test and passed.
“He got 72% in the baseline assessment for Mathematics (for the school in Constantia). But he got 40% in Maths for the last term in the online school.
“That has killed his spirit because he tries so hard but the results are discouraging. If it was my child alone who is failing I was going to understand, but I have a problem because there are many parents with similar concerns,” she said.
Curro Delft business manager, Ross Hill said they offered extra classes and an online assessment at the end of the chapter determined the learning outcome.
“We are very confident about our marks. Sometimes in a broad range of schools, the results can be misleading. The students can think that they are at a certain level, yet they are not at that level.
“So here we are driving towards Grade 12 and we make sure that we get them exactly to where they are,” he said.
The director of Zero Dropout Campaign Merle Mansfield said it came as no surprise or shock that some of the learners were under-performing in these schools because of the transition from the traditional schools of brick and mortar.
“Children are used to sitting in the classroom, learning and then going home. So online learning is different and self-paced. The adaptation would be quick and easy for some and, for others, it will not,” she said.
She further said the online model was a good move, given that there are plans for unforeseen circumstances such as load shedding and network issues.
Professor Jonathan Jansen from the Faculty of Education at Stellenbosch University believed that “online schooling in the private model is inherently biased” and that “the goal is to make money.”