ALBERTON – The Ekurhuleni West College in Lake Arthur Street, Brackendowns was a ‘circus parade’ where students caused a stir inside the college campus premises.
It has been a rigorous act and students were not holding back. They demanded a R6 000 transportation fee; which was promised by the school, a feeding scheme and iPads that went on for close to three days as the students jumped around and sang songs and waved placards ith messages attached to them.
Many of the children outside the college facility were concerned about what was going on for these two days. They did not attend any classes and stood around doing nothing. They just endured a really unfair ‘punishment’.
According to a 17-year-old male student who attends the college, the students would need to obtain an 80 per cent attendance in order to obtain bursaries and write their final exams. This according to one of the college’s representatives.
The student went on to say, “They are wasting our time by keeping us out of class.”
It was requested twice by the RECORD on August 19 to speak to the Principal or representative of a department, but a female security guard at the main entrance said that they did not want to say anything.
On August 25, an email regarding the incident was sent to a representative for comment but no response was received.
On August 27, a request was made via telephone to the college to find out if somebody could liaise with the necessary departments and the RECORD once again requested comment, but was told that the management did not have any comment.
A 17-year-old male student at the college said that the strike ended on August 25 and everything was back to normal.
The school did make students fill out forms to sign who was not part of the strike. According to the student, the school never came up with a conclusion or solution to the issue, and that if students had to strike, the school would cancel students’ registration and they would not be allowed to return to the school.
