The department of education is investigating two schools for allegedly fabricating – and submitting – non-existent marks for pupils.
According to education head, Themba Kojana, the schools were singled out by a team of officials who were visiting a number of small and non-viable schools around the province as part of the department’s rationalisation programme.
Kojana did not provide names and location of the schools, saying it may jeopardise their investigations.
It is alleged that the schools submitted the marks to the department on the premise they were functional and that teaching and learning were taking place, however, they could not provide any proof of marks submitted.
“The officials were sent to the schools to monitor what was happening. The schools were small and unviable and it seems no effective monitoring was taking place. At the two schools that are under investigation, we discovered that people [teachers and principals] were submitting marks but have no proof of where the marks were coming from,” said Kojana, adding that there was no effective teaching and learning taking place at the schools due to low pupil enrolment.
The chairman of portfolio committee on education in Bhisho, Mzoleli Mrara, who labelled the actions by the principal as fraud, said the level of alleged deceit from the principal was shocking and should not go unpunished.
Mrara said the principals, as the accounting officers of the schools, had violated the education guidelines by allegedly committing fraud and believes there are many other schools that might be committing similar alleged fraud.
“There is no excuse for what these principals [allegedly] did. The department needs to deal with them and apply [the] wrath of the law and show no mercy when dealing with them.
“The department should have picked this up long before and these might not be the only schools that are doing this. They [department] need to tighten the monitoring of schools,” he said. —-arethal@dispatch.co.za..