MEC for Education’s spokesperson response to underperforming Klipspriut West Secondary
Underperforming Klipspruit West Secondary School needs serious intervention
UPDATE: March, 16, 2021 @ 09:30
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng conducted an oversight inspection at Klipspruit West Secondary School and discovered that the school was facing serious challenges. The challenges range from poor matric results, late coming, lack of support from parents, and no permanent principal at the school.
“The DA calls on the Gauteng MEC for Education, Panyaza Lesufi to intervene as a matter of urgency to ensure that this school improves its performance. It is the responsibility of the department to ensure that all schools have all the required study materials and that all the school vacancies are filled,” said Khume Ramulifho, the DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Education.
MEC for Education Panyaza Lesufi’s spokesperson Steve Mabona responded to the allegations and said that the department’s problems at the school started in 2017 where some residents from the community, did not want the principal at the school. After investigations, it was found that there were racial issues between parents and the school.
“We elected an acting principal and we have been working closely with the school. It has not been a stable school for the last few years and this resulted in bad results from the matriculants. We have tried to take all the learners to the secondary improvement programmes where they were assisted with work they needed to know,”
“We can confirm that the school has been unstable and we have been saying that if you decide to disrupt school as parents, you will find the school in this situation.,” said Mabona.
According to the spokesperson, schools are currently busy with the School Governing Body (SGB) elections and from electing a new SGB, they should be in a position to then elect a principal for the school, and then the school can become stable once again.
Mabona added that the school has received all of their textbooks and they are supporting the school where they need the support.
March, 4, 2021 @11:29Â
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng conducted an oversight inspection at Klipspruit West Secondary School and discovered that the school is facing serious challenges. The challenges range from poor matric results, late coming, lack of support from parents, and no permanent principal at the school.
Khume Ramulifho, the DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Education, DA Spokesperson for Education, Sergio do Santos and DA PR Cllr Vasco da Gama visited the school.
According to the statement from Ramulifho, the school has been in serious decline since 2017. In 2019, the school was the worst-performing school in Gauteng and only achieved a 47% matric pass rate for the 2020 academic year.
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The Shadow MEC for Education shared that Klipspruit West Secondary has had acting principals since 2017, following the removal of the last permanent principal after parents protested demanding his removal. There is also a vacancy for the Head of Department that has not yet been filled.
“The school lacks the environment conducive for learning and teaching, with dirty facilities, pavements full of weeds, while the grass continues growing after not having been cut since last year. The multi-purpose court has been left incomplete, the sports ground has turned into a bush, with big trees needing urgent removal.”
“The school has money for maintenance, however, the bank signatories who are the members of the School Governing Body (SGB) have left, and they are still waiting for the appointment of new SGB members to fill their positions.”
“The school has not yet received some of the textbooks, hampering the rollout of the 2021 academic year syllabus, while the school has more empty classrooms due to fewer learners enrolling as a result of poor performance,” explained Ramulifho.
Late coming was one of the challenges for both learners and teachers which needs to be addressed. Ramulifho added that there is also a lack of discipline among learners and a lack of parent support, as they do not attend parents’ meetings at the school.
“The DA calls on the Gauteng MEC for Education, Panyaza Lesufi to intervene as a matter of urgency to ensure that this school improves its performance. It is the responsibility of the department to ensure that all schools have all the required study materials and that all the school vacancies are filled,” said Ramulifho.
The DA would like the school to receive ongoing support from the district until they reach an acceptable performance level and want district officials to play an effective role, starting with encouraging parents to get involved in the next SGB elections.
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