W’burg parents still demanding Afrikaans teachers 3yrs on
The shortage of Afrkaans teachers at the school has been a problem since 2013.
POLOKWANE – Disgruntled parents of learners at the Westenburg Secondary School say the Department of Education has not yet resolved the issue of there not being enough Afrikaans speaking teachers at the school.
This after the department promised parents in several meetings with the School Governing Body (SGB) that more Afrikaans speaking teachers would be appointed.
In August 2013, outraged parents locked the school gates due to various issues at the school, including a shortage of Afrikaans teachers.
With the department still not responding to the outcry of frustrated parents and learners, the learners protested in front of the Department of Education demanding that the department appoint teachers in May 2014.
Almost three years later, the pressing matter has still not been resolved as there are still Afrikaans learners in some grades who are forced to take their classes in English yet their first language is Afrikaans.
The learners say they are frustrated as the teacher explains the work in English which makes it difficult as this is not their mother tongue.
When they ask the teacher to please explain the work in Afrikaans, the teacher is not able to, they claim.
“When we write exams we still don’t understand the work so most of us get low marks or fail,” the learners stated.
A source told Review that the department’s unwillingness to appoint more Afrikaans speaking teachers is one of the many reasons why the former acting school principal, Jimmy Steele, resigned.
Parents fear their children will fail at the end of the year as a result of the language issue but say their hands are tied.
“This school was built for the Westenburg community, and most of the residents here are Afrikaans speaking. How is it that the school does not have teachers to teach an Afrikaans community?” one parent asked.
Another concern the parents have is that there is no principal at the school.
“Bettie Boom is the acting principal and a teacher as well. This causes conflict in terms of her duties. How does the department expect her to run a school, manage the staff and ensure discipline and order among learners and be in a classroom teaching our children all at the same time? This is not possible,” another parent said.
Eugene Lyle, Chairperson of the SGB at Westenburg Secondary School, says they have not received any complaints from parents in this regard.
“We urge parents, learners and the community to submit their complaints in writing to the school.
“Once we have received the complaints we will investigate the matter. If need be, we will forward our investigation to the department for action,” Lyle explained.
Dr Naledzani Rasila, Provincial Spokesperson for the Department of Education, said according to their records they have not received any complaints about a shortage of teachers at the school recently.
“We have addressed our challenges with Westenburg Secondary School and others in the area.
“We advise the SGB and the school management to visit the district office should there be challenges they are experiencing.
“The office, together with the SGB can then address the challenges accordingly and find solutions to the problems.
“When the principal of a school is absent, the deputy principal takes control. The post will then be advertised at the right time and whoever is appointed takes over from the deputy. Note that we will have new post establishment available in preparation for the coming year.
“This may also become handy to address a number of challenges in schools across the province,” Rasila said.
