Pretoria - Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi says he will today meet with mediators representing the Davidsonville community following the chaotic situation that broke out at Roodepoort Primary School recently.
This is in an attempt to stop parents from barring learners from the school attending classes in other schools.
The chaos started on Monday morning when learners had to be transported to other schools, following Gauteng Premier David Makhura’s announcement that the school will be temporarily closed with immediate effect.
Roodepoort Primary School, which has been marred by acts of violence recently, has propelled the provincial government to intervene and take a decision to temporarily close the school.
To ensure that education is not compromised further by the decision, MEC Lesufi said government decided to temporarily move learners of the school to neighbouring schools.
The situation got worse on Tuesday, with incidents of violence broke outside at the school as learners boarded buses. It is reported that community members intimidated learners and threw stones at the bus with learners inside, and also at police. Some parents did not allow their children to leave home for school.
“After announcing that decision, we received a report on Monday about a series of acts of violence and intimidation that took place at the school, which vindicated that our decision to temporarily close down the school was right,” he said.
The MEC said he has decided to clear his diary for the next six days to ensure that he personally attends to resolving the matter.
“We received reports from the police as well, that there were some altercations with the community on Tuesday morning. Some of the community members picketed police with stones. In an act of self-defence unfortunately some of the community members were hurt,” said the MEC.
Following the violent acts and disruption of schooling, the provincial government has taken a decision to establish a task team comprising of religious and community leaders to mediate and find a lasting solution to challenges faced by the school.
MEC Lesufi said he has already held more than 30 meetings with various education stakeholders in the Davidsonville community in the past 11 months, in a bid to resolve challenges faced by the school.
Appointment of school principals
The MEC clarified that he does not appoint school principals, but the community represented by School Governing Body (SGB) is involved in the appointment processes. The SGB submits its recommendations to the Head of Department.
He dismissed claims that Roodepoort Primary School principal was not qualified for his job, and said the Principal was appointed in 2011. He said there were no complaints about the principal in 2012 and 2013, and that the first complaint was submitted in 2014.
“We appointed a credible forensic institution to go through all the CV’s of candidates who applied for the post, score cards, as well as the interview outcomes so that we can determine if the right person was appointed.
“Recommendations from the investigation report were clear and I have published them,” he said.
He also said another investigation was conducted that revealed that financial challenges at the school involved SGB and administrator but not officials.
He said he will not allow people to disrupt schools if they are not happy with the outcomes of the investigations.
“They have refused all these reports simply because they did not favour their views,” said MEC Lesufi.
He apologised to parents of affected learners and to all South Africans for what is happening at the school.
“We remain more determined in finding a lasting solution and bring schooling back to normal for these learners,” said MEC Lesufi. - SAnews.gov.za
