School speaks out after MEC’s unnannounced visit
The school cited security as a reason for not opening the gate at first.
Parents and residents have applauded a créche in Edenvale for applying strict security measures after the MEC of Education in Gauteng was initially denied access to the school during an unannounced visit to the school on Friday.
The school, Kiddieshaven Early Children Development Centre, cited security as a reason for not opening the gate at first.
“The MEC did not produce a business card, therefore our staff hesitated to open. A member of the MEC’s group then shouted that they were from the education department and MEC Lesufi handed his card to our business manager. We opened the gate. We also asked him whether he wanted his team to accompany him onto the premises and he said they can wait in the vehicle,” said Sister Gillian Lawrence, from Kiddieshaven.
She made the statement after MEC Panyaza Lesufi visited Kiddieshaven on Friday, April 15, after he received a complaint via Twitter from a Twitter user. The tweet from Katlego Akim (@otshudi2) said, “creche only for white kids”.
The MEC made his way to the school and later tweeted, “I am here they are refusing me entry”.
Sister Lawrence commented, “Within five minutes the MEC was on the property after confirming his identity. Once inside the school grounds, we had a meeting where he showed us the tweet and explained his reason for the visit. We met and he was taken on a guided tour of the entire centre. He took photos of forms on his tablet and he spoke to the children. I introduced him to all our staff too.”
The Gauteng Department of Education‘s (GDE) acting spokesperson, Mr Oupa Bodibe said, “Indeed the MEC visited the school and found that there are very few black children enrolled.”
“The MEC visited the school but what he found was that the school’s policy does not support the change we want to see in a democratic South Africa and that is disturbing,” said Mr Bodibe.
“Only one aspect of the intake was included in the MEC’s public statements. We don’t work on referrals only, as stated by the MEC,” said Sister Lawrence.
She said there is no formal policy dictating admission pertaining to children up to five years old.
“All potential parents have equal rights to our admission and all receive the same admission form. Children are grouped from infant age and older, based on each child’s individual development and needs. This dictates space availability,” said Sister Lawrence.
The school highlighted that it has children of various races enrolled at the school. We are a multi-cultural school,” said Sister Lawrence.
“We are concerned about the tweets and there were threats. I don’t understand the need to arrive at my gate last week with a team of people, followed by the media, when there were urgent online GDE applications that needed to be dealt with at the time,” said Sister Lawrence.
Mr Bodibe said the way forward to handle the matter will be to have the involvement of a team consisting of members from the departments of social development, education and health. The team will investigate the matter further and report back to the MEC with their findings.
“There is no formal admission policy in place for early childhood development centres that are not registered to take Grade R children,” said Sister Lawrence.
She added that the school made contact with Ekurhuleni authorities who issued the centre’s registration to operate and issued their Health Certificate, Certificate of Acceptability and Public Health Permit, to inform them of the incident.
