The assembly point of the Noordwyk Secondary School was packed to the rafters as both parents and learners converged for the parents’ meeting.
During this meeting, school principal, Alex Tau, and School Governing Body (SGB) chairperson, Ngwako Mogale, urged parents to pay their children’s school fees.
The two said, the school was unable to function to its maximum potential as some parents fall behind on their monthly contribution.
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The meeting took place at the school premises on July 13, where learners also collected term two report cards, accompanied by their parents or guardians.
Tau said, the purpose of the meeting was to update the parents on their children’s performance from the previous exams. This is done quarterly, on the first weekend of the new term reopening.
“I was pleased with the attendance and the meeting went well. Parents who are still dragging their feet, I encourage them to come forward so that we can all take the school to the next level. It takes the four of us: teachers, parents, SGB, and learners to take the school forward.”
“We survive because of the contribution of the parents. And non-payment of school fees then affects us, and will drag us down. It affects us as [a] school to fully function to our maximum capacity. To those who are paying, we are thankful, and encourage others to come forward,” said Tau.
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He said, as a fee-paying school, they also invite local businessmen to sponsor a learner or two in any way possible, to ensure they enjoy their school journey.
Mogale said, they have informed the parents about some of the challenges, including the issue of non-payment by some parents.
“We are experiencing a huge challenge regarding school fees, as the majority of parents are falling behind with payment. This negatively affects the school’s performance. We are pleading with those parents to pay fees so that the school does not collapse, and encourage those who don’t default to continue doing the good work,” said Mogale.
After seeing learner growth in recent years, from 850 learners to about 1 700 now, the school built four new classrooms and bathroom facilities to accommodate the growing number, which has almost doubled.
Parent Victor Hlungwani from Blue Hills, whose child is in Grade 9 at the school, said the meeting went very well. “There were just a few issues regarding the starting time and finishing time. Some parents left before the meeting could finish, and that slightly disturbed the meeting,” said Hlungwani
Another parent from Noordwyk, Lebo Magagane, who has two children in grades 8 and 10 respectively, said, “The meeting went well, and today’s attendance was better compared to other meetings. However, as soon as the report cards were being issued, parents left the meeting to collect their children’s reports, and that disturbed the meeting.”
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