The Department of Education in Limpopo has condemned schools that prevent learners from attending class due to outstanding fees.
Sam Makondo, spokesman for the department, said that no school is allowed to prevent learners from going to class.
Makondo was responding to the accusations made by parents of Gravelotte Primary School that their children were not allowed to attend class.
According to the parents, scholars with outstanding fees were kept in a hall while other learners were attending class.
They also claimed that the principal refused to negotiate a settlement or to come to some kind of arrangement.
One of the parents said he owes about R10 000 in fees after he lost his job two years ago and he can’t afford to pay the 60% the school demands from him.
“We went to his office to tell him that we will try to pay by month-end but he chased us out of the office, saying that he wants his money.
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“We don’t have any back-up, a lot of these parents depend on social grants as their income, we don’t know what to do,” a disgruntled parent who would like to remain anonymous stated.
When Letaba Herald contacted the principal about the parents’ claims’, he said parents knew about the money even before the school opened.
“The job of the school is to teach the learners, so the parent must also do what is just to both the school and the learners, which is to pay school fees.”
However, during the conversation with the Herald, the principal changed his statement claiming that there are no learners that are not attending class, contradicting the parents’ claims.
The anonymous parent denounced the principal’s claims.
He said his child was at home after he was told to keep the learner at home until he can pay the money.
“We find it unacceptable that learners are treated in this way.
If there is money involved, let the school make arrangements with the parents and leave learners to focus on their studies,” Makondo stated.
After the interaction with the department of education, learners on Monday, 20 January were all back in class.
There were however some learners that were still at home because the parents were too scared to take them back to school.
Makondo sent a word of warning to other schools who withheld learners’ reports and keep learners out of class because they did not pay fundraising fees to buy toilet paper or paper reams.
