Westenburg parents speak out

POLOKWANE – “United we stand, divided we fall; we must not lose sight of what is important and that is the future of our children.”

These were the sentiments of Westenburg Secondary School‘s school governing body (SGB) deputy chairperson, Rowland Stander, at a parents’ meeting at the school last Thursday.

Stander is also the parent of a gr. 12 learner at the school.

The meeting followed after the SGB recently had a meeting with the parents to discuss certain challenges the school faced, but there were some questions from the parents that the SGB could not answer or give clarity on, which was why the SGB arranged a meeting between the SGB, the department of education and the parents. Some residents also joined the meeting.

The burning issue that parents emphasised over and over again, was the shortage of Afrikaans teachers at the school.

“A bus has a driver and passengers. When something is wrong with the bus, you do not blame the driver, but the inspector. Now, the school is the bus and the principal is the driver and the learners are the passengers. We do not blame the principal for what is going wrong at the school, we blame the department of education because they are the inspectors, who are supposed to ensure things run smoothly in order for our children to get the best education possible,” one parent said.

The parent continued and asked the representative from the department how learners were supposed to perform well if they did not understand their work in class.

“There is a shortage of Afrikaans teachers at the school and this is a problem because how will our children understand their school work if a teacher cannot explain it to them in a language that they understand?” the parent asked, as other parents concurred with him.

One resident said some learners were forced to do certain subjects in English due to the lack of Afrikaans resources.

Department of education acting district senior manager, Director Mothemane, said the department was aware of the imbalance of Afrikaans teachers at the school.

“We know there are more English than Afrikaans teachers at the school and the department is working on the problem. However, this is not a problem that can be resolved overnight, it will take some time. Afrikaans teachers are a scarce resource.

“The department realised that the number of learners at the school had increased so we opened four posts at the school and one of the prerequisites was that the applicants must be able to teach in both Afrikaans and English. Three of the four posts have been filled and the department is still working on appointing the fourth teacher. The three teachers that have been appointed have a contract until the end of the year,” Mothemane explained.

He said the school had enough teachers, but the department understood there was still a shortage of Afrikaans teachers, and due to this challenge, there were times that Afrikaans learners were without teachers and fell behind with their work.

“Although there are no more posts available for this school, the SGB can recommend three more Afrikaans teachers, who are not retired and who are employable by the department and the department will allocate those teachers to the school.”

Parents applauded the department for its intervention, but pleaded that the department kept to its promise. “Do not make promises with the mouth only, be sure to act on them,” one parent said.

A resident said the sooner teachers were allocated the better because the gr. 12 learners suffered in the process. “Time is running out and our gr. 12 learners will be writing their trial examinations soon.We need to focus on them getting good marks for university acceptance and bursaries,” the resident said.

Another concerned parent questioned the absence of the acting school principal, Jimmy Steele last week. “Since the school opened for the second term, the principal has not been in office and it seems like with his absence, there is no discipline at the school. When is Steele coming back to the school to restore discipline?” the parent wanted to know.

According to Mothemane, Steele’s contract as acting principal at the school was until the end of the year.

“The department’s policy with all acting principals is that their contracts are renewed every three months. The same applies for Steele.

According to the department’s knowledge, he was supposed to report to the school when the schools reopened after the June school holiday. Steele will continue as acting principal at this school until the principal post is advertised, and he can also apply for the position should he wish to do so,” Mothemane said.

• Review can confirm that Steele reported for duty on Monday.