Setback for learner’s bright future
The Department of Education advised parents to negotiate a payment plan with the schools to avoid such issues.
A CLERMONT grandmother, who works as a domestic worker, has become an emotional wreck as her granddaughter might not start high school because her previous school has not released her report due to outstanding school fees.
*Dudu said this report issue had bugged her the entire festive season.
“We barely survive and the little money I get, I pay rent and it does not last me very long, we even struggle for food.”
She said her granddaughter, who attended a school in Reservoir Hills, is very intelligent and she would hate to see her future being destroyed.
“At the year-end prize giving, she got an award for Mathematics and was the Dux runner-up,” said the grandmother.
She has been accepted at a high school but she needs to produce her report.
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“One of the teachers at her former school lent us the money to help get her a place at the high school. We are really struggling, we do not know where to get the R4 000 from. We didn’t even buy a uniform for the new school.
“I do not earn much, I work four days a week and both my employers are pensioners. They also want to help, but they also do not have the money which is the reason they contacted the Highway Mail,” she said.
Department of Education KZN spokesman, Muzi Mahlambi, said although it is not legal for schools to hold learners’ reports, parents should take the responsibility of making sure the school fees are up to date.
“If they are struggling they should engage with the school and discuss payments arrangements so that the school can release the report.”
Mahlambi said the schools have had many cases where parents have given money to their children only to find that it was not paid because they used it on themselves. “This is the reason we urge parents to pay the money into the school account or engage with the principal if they have money problems,” he said.
*Name has been changed.
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