Parents allege that a school is not registered with the department of education

Parents of a local school are concerned, saying that the school their children are attending is operating illegally.

One of the parents alleges that he enrolled his children at Witbank Christian Combined School and was told that the school does not have a space. After paying an amount of R3 240 for his two children’s school fees he was called and told that he can enrol the children.

The reason why the parent now wants to be refunded is that he said the school is not registered with the Department of Education. He said he was promised that he will be refunded but now the school is failing to keep to its promise of refunding him.

A questionnaire was then sent to the school and the department of education for their response to find out whether the school was registered with the department of education. If the school was registered it should be able to provide a certificate to show that it is registered. If the school fails to provide a certificate of registration, the question is why it enrolled children.

The school was asked why it did not refund the parent as promised.

In response, Mr Blessing Phiri the school manager said the issue was resolved on Wednesday, February 7. Mr Phiri further said:

“The registration of the school, all due process was done with the department of education, our lawyers are handling the matter.”

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Mpumalanga Department of Education Media Liaison Officer Mr Gerald Sambo stated that the school in question is not registered with the department. He further said that it is the responsibility of parents to verify with the department if an independent school is registered to avoid challenges such as these.

A board outside the Witbank Christian Combined School on the Middelburg Old Road.

“The department will take the necessary steps to ensure that the school comply with the requirements for operating as an independent school as per the departmental guidelines for independent schools. However, as things stand, schools that are operating outside the law, as a result they must be closed and the owners must face the might of the law,” added Mr Sambo.

The school advertise that it is a day and boarding school and offers matric rewrite. It says it also offers a pre-school for children from the age of two to four years, a primary school as well as a secondary school.

In the past it was reported that a number of schools were found to be unregistered. Some of these were operating without the necessary registration from the education department. While others had applied for registration as independent schools but were allegedly operating without the necessary documents and some had not applied at all.

The department of education always warns parents about the unregistered school but still some fall into the trap. The department sometimes find out about the schools operating illegally and are able to close them down. Applications for the registration of independent schools should be submitted before the schools open their doors. Parents should check whether the schools were registered and ask for the relevant certificate.

School officials who flout the law are liable to a fine or imprisonment.