Parents angered by half-built school
FOURWAYS - Two parents of pupils at British International Preparatory in North Riding have made complaints about the management of the school and its facilities.
Both parents did not wish to be named but their claims about the school were very similar. Both were unhappy that the school was conducting lessons in prefab classrooms and voiced concern that the school did not have facilities for extra-mural activities.
One of the main issues they had with the school was the lack of shade on the school grounds and high temperatures within the prefab classrooms. The parents felt they were paying high school fees, but their children were not being given the world-class education and top-notch facilities that were promised. Another allegation that one of the parents made was that teachers at the school were not accredited, and that the school was hiring people straight out of high school to teach classes.
Margaret Oshrey, dean of all four British International campuses based in Gauteng, including the original British International College in Bryanston, refuted all the claims made by the two parents.
She explained that the school’s building application had not yet been approved by the city council, and that they did not want to flout bylaws by building permanent structures. However the school, which opened in January 2013, was still conducting their school days as normal.
The school uses the Cambridge system of education and has an integrated school day which runs from 8.30am to 4pm, with extra-mural activities and academic lessons. Oshrey said the development progress had been regularly communicated to parents.
She added that the founding parents of the school overwhelmingly supported commencement of the school in prefab classrooms, instead of waiting several years for township establishment and the completion of construction.
Regarding the teacher allegation, Oshrey explained that this was simply a misunderstanding as they had asked a teacher’s aid who had an A-level in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to fill in for a few weeks while they found another teacher after the original ICT teacher had decided to resign. “All our teachers are accredited and many have international qualifications,” she said.
A Fourways Review journalist toured the school and noted that there were various shade ports which pupils could choose to make use of. There were also air-conditioners in all the classrooms. In addition there was a playing field as well as a visual and performance arts classroom.
“What is a school? Is it buildings and fields or is it books and lessons and learning,” Oshrey questioned.
