A rural village school in Mthatha has come under fire from angry parents for kicking out around 100 pupils who failed to pay R450, allegedly meant for school fees.
This is despite the school – AV Plaatjie Senior Senior Secondary in Payne location, less than 15km from the city centre – being classified as a no-fee school, meaning it is prohibited from asking school fees from its pupils.
Furious parents yesterday said their children had been missing class since last week after they were sent home by the school for failing to pay.
The school’s principal Xolile Maqhude declined to comment when a Daily Dispatch team visited yesterday morning, stating only that he would meet with school governing body (SGB) members at noon regarding the issue.
“I will be able to clarify the issue once I have talked to them,” he said.
When contacted again around 3pm, he said he was still meeting with the parents’ body.
Mthatha district director for the education department Temba Dyasi downplayed the accusations against the school, saying the principal had told him that they were not charging any school fees.
“The principal has denied any such thing but it does not mean a school does not have projects where it can ask parents to make voluntary contributions. But it is unacceptable for a no-fee school to be demanding school fees,” he said.
Parent Zwelinzima Ntsodo said most pupils had been locked out of school last week.
“Most of us don’t work and do not have the money that they want.”
Ntsodo said a school caretaker had told him that the money was probably to pay salaries of teachers employed by the SGB.
“We are against this . If they miss out on classes now, what are they going to write come June exams?”
A Grade 10 pupil, who was seen walking home from school, refused to give her name for fear of victimisation, but she confirmed that many pupils had been locked out of the school last week after failing to pay school fees.
“We were told to go home because we have not paid school fees. Our biggest concern is that there are exams coming up while this is all happening,” said the pupil.
Another parent, Nophiwo Gwadiso, said they had been told to pay R250 at the beginning of the year and an additional R30 for an application form. The rest of the money could be paid later.
“I had to borrow that money because the father of my children passed away last year and I am unemployed. What is worse is that they did not even give us notices. We just saw children coming home.”
In a text message, Eastern Cape provincial education spokesman Loyiso Pulumani exonerated the school from any wrong doing.
Instead he said an agreement had been reached between the SGB and parents to fundraise since AV Plaatjie was a no-fee school. “Pupils were sent to fetch their parents for a meeting regarding the money. They were never sent home,” he said.
Advocacy group Equal Education’s Eastern Cape head Luzuko Sidimba reacted with shock at the news, arguing that what the school was doing was illegal.
“By law a no-fee school cannot force out pupils because they haven’t paid school fees.”
He said some schools often used the word “fundraising” to charge school fees but argued the R450 demanded by AV Plaatjie was just “too exorbitant”.
“When you fundraise, it is not something that you enforce – only those who are able to pay must pay. You don’t resort to such measures so that people pay up,” he added. — sikhon@dispatch.co.za
Outcry as pupils sent home
This is despite the school – AV Plaatjie Senior Senior Secondary in Payne location, less than 15km from the city centre – being classified as a no-fee school, meaning it is prohibited from asking school fees from its pupils.
Furious parents yesterday said their children had been missing class since last week after they were sent home by the school for failing to pay.
The school’s principal Xolile Maqhude declined to comment when a Daily Dispatch team visited yesterday morning, stating only that he would meet with school governing body (SGB) members at noon regarding the issue.
“I will be able to clarify the issue once I have talked to them,” he said.
When contacted again around 3pm, he said he was still meeting with the parents’ body.
Mthatha district director for the education department Temba Dyasi downplayed the accusations against the school, saying the principal had told him that they were not charging any school fees.
“The principal has denied any such thing but it does not mean a school does not have projects where it can ask parents to make voluntary contributions. But it is unacceptable for a no-fee school to be demanding school fees,” he said.
Parent Zwelinzima Ntsodo said most pupils had been locked out of school last week.
“Most of us don’t work and do not have the money that they want.”
Ntsodo said a school caretaker had told him that the money was probably to pay salaries of teachers employed by the SGB.
“We are against this . If they miss out on classes now, what are they going to write come June exams?”
A Grade 10 pupil, who was seen walking home from school, refused to give her name for fear of victimisation, but she confirmed that many pupils had been locked out of the school last week after failing to pay school fees.
“We were told to go home because we have not paid school fees. Our biggest concern is that there are exams coming up while this is all happening,” said the pupil.
Another parent, Nophiwo Gwadiso, said they had been told to pay R250 at the beginning of the year and an additional R30 for an application form. The rest of the money could be paid later.
“I had to borrow that money because the father of my children passed away last year and I am unemployed. What is worse is that they did not even give us notices. We just saw children coming home.”
In a text message, Eastern Cape provincial education spokesman Loyiso Pulumani exonerated the school from any wrong doing.
Instead he said an agreement had been reached between the SGB and parents to fundraise since AV Plaatjie was a no-fee school. “Pupils were sent to fetch their parents for a meeting regarding the money. They were never sent home,” he said.
Advocacy group Equal Education’s Eastern Cape head Luzuko Sidimba reacted with shock at the news, arguing that what the school was doing was illegal.
“By law a no-fee school cannot force out pupils because they haven’t paid school fees.”
He said some schools often used the word “fundraising” to charge school fees but argued the R450 demanded by AV Plaatjie was just “too exorbitant”.
“When you fundraise, it is not something that you enforce – only those who are able to pay must pay. You don’t resort to such measures so that people pay up,” he added. — sikhon@dispatch.co.za
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