BUSHBUCKRIDGE – The protest started on Monday February 14 after the parents had barricaded the gates, blocking the teachers and pupils from accessing the building, blaming the school for the pupils’ poor marks since it became a MST-focused school.
MST subjects are maths, science and technology. The protest ended on Friday February 18. According to the parents, Bunny High is among the 101 schools declared by the Department of Education in 2014 that will only focus on MST subjects from grades 10 to 12.
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The protest resulted in having about 600 schoolchildren missing a week of class time. A concerned parent, Bonga Ndlovu, said, “We decided to shut down the school because of the poor pass rate. Our children will not go back until they change these subjects.
Many learners have left the school. Previously it used to accommodate more than 1 000 pupils, but now it has 600.” The protesters believe that the most painful part is that the learners fail maths and physical science. This indicates to them as parents that these two subjects are a real challenge to their children. “We have seen a number of learners leaving the school due to these subjects. They had informed us that they are struggling with these,” Ndlovu stated.
“We tried to engage with the Department of Education, but instead they said if we have a problem with the school, we must find another one to accommodate our children. They claimed to be a MST school, but do not have the necessary resources such as computers, drawing boards and projectors.” The Department of Basic Education’s Elijah Nkosi said,
“Being an MST-focused school means maths and science from grades 10 to 12 are compulsory. All the schools are supported with teachers, textbooks and MST resources to ensure that learners perform.” Nkosi stated that there should be no doubt that maths and science are key subjects that children must learn and pass to contribute effectively to the economy of South Africa.
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