Parents question legitimacy of new school
Furthermore, the school was not found in the Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa (ISASA) database and ISASA says the school is not a member of their organisation.
Parents are concerned about the registration and accreditation of an independent school that recently opened in the CBD.
The Ikage Independent School caters for Grade R to Grade 12 learners.
However, the registration details of the school cannot be verified anywhere.
Concerned parents came to The Addie asking for our help in making sure the school was registered with the Gauteng Department of Education.
“We always see warnings from the department about these school that are not registered and I just wanted to double-check before I enrol my child.
“I became concerned when I went to the school and could not see the school’s registration certificate and when I asked the staff at reception, they said they did not have it and that I should ask the principal for it.
“That went against everything I have heard from the department where they say the certificate must be publically displayed where all can see it.
“I’m just worried because they already have learners enrolled in the school and if they are not properly registered, those learners would have to repeat the grade next year,” says the parent.
Aslo read: How to verify a school’s credentials with the Department of Education
When The Addie called the department’s 0800 000 789 number to check the registration of the school, the school was not in the department’s database.
When asked if this meant the school was not registered, the department says it could simply be a case of their database not being up to date and urged us to contact the school directly. School principal Rev Vusilizwe Matumba says the school had a joint site visit by both the provincial and district Department of Education last week for final registration purposes and were 80 per cent compliant and they were given 30 days to ensure complete compliance for final registration.
“A primary school cannot conduct matric re-writes, that part is handled by Ikage SD College, a sister organisation which is fully registered with Umalusi and duly accredited by QCTO, DHET and Umalusi.
“All such accreditations and registration details are on display on the walls of the school, feel free to walk in and inspect them any time,” says Matumba.
However, the closest we could come to finding a record of the school was with Umalusi, which granted the Ikage SD College a one year provisional accreditation from August 1, 2016 to July 31, 2017.
UMALUSI did not respond in time for publication to our queries regarding the verification of the school’s registration and examination numbers that were on the school’s brochures.
Also read: New school promotes education for learners with special needs
Furthermore, the school was not found in the Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa (ISASA) database and ISASA says the school is not a member of their organisation.
Parents also questioned the school teaching Grade Eight and Nine learners using the Outcome Based Education (OBE) curriculum as advertised on their brochure as OBE was scrapped long ago in schools.
Matumba disputed this and says the school teaches learners according to the CAPS curriculum.
In our interaction with the school, they failed to give us a registration number from the department.
The department did not respond in time for publication.
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