An oversight visit was conducted by the Democratic Alliance’s Khume Ramulifho, Makashule Gana, councillors Peter Rafferty and Fazel Jaffer to assess the conditions of the school and whether or not teaching is going on at the Blue School (Eldorado Park Senior Secondary School).
This is one of many schools in which learning and teaching were disrupted by the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU).
The reason for the oversight visit to the school followed an alleged racially-motivated fight between a coloured school principal and a group of black teachers in this school. SADTU has withdrawn some of its members from this school.
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On Monday, February 19 about 28 teachers failed to report to work. Some of the teachers have not been to work since schools reopened at the beginning of the year. The DA assessed the impact that this racial incident and absence of teachers had on teaching and learning at this school.
A concerned parent made a statement telling the media how he felt it affected teaching. He said that if you do a simple calculation, taking approximately 50 learners in a class and multiplying it by the number of teachers that were not at school, you’d get an answer.
He concluded that per period approximately 350 students are not getting taught and are not being supervised. About two weeks ago when the teachers belonging to SADTU weren’t at school a fight broke at the school and a boy was stabbed with a pair of scissors.
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So without the teachers around, not only are the students losing their right to education but without the discipline, one can only expect chaotic behaviour to break out. Don’t you remember when you were in class and the teacher wasn’t around?
Ramulifho said, “The observation that we conclude here is that there is a crisis in this school. Based on the number of teachers who are not at the school and without being guaranteed when they will be back, that is a clear indication that we have problems at the school. That is something that needs to be dealt with as soon as possible.”
He added that while teachers have got their rights, their rights are guaranteed but their rights should not be protected at the expense of a learner, learners should be taught or maybe they should go back to the old school rules of ‘No Work No Pay.’
