Pupils, parents, teachers and members of the School’s Governing Body (SGB) locked the gates of the Shaw Park Combined School in Bathurst this week, in the latest confrontation between schools and the embattled Eastern Cape Department of Education.
Pupils, parents, teachers and members of the School’s Governing Body (SGB) locked the gates of the Shaw Park Combined School in Bathurst this week, in the latest confrontation between schools and the embattled Eastern Cape Department of Education.
The school embarked on a protest on Wednesday- blaming the education department for a lack of a Business Studies teacher.
According to the Chairperson of the School’s Governing Body SGB Chair Thandi Ncini told Grocott's Mail that they started the protest Wednesday September 10 after the school submitted an urgent application to the DoE 18 August to fill a Business Studies teacher's post that had been vacant since the departure of the previous teacher in April.
Ncini said the department's failure to act has affected pupils in Grades 9, 10 and 11. Ncini also said that the DoE told the school to find a suitable candidate for the post themselves.
They welcomed the decision by the district office and will gather again to discuss a plan of action, Ncini said.
The protest comes after disgruntled parents of children at George Jacques Primary School in Alicedale shut the school down in July, after the Grade 1 class had been without a teacher for more than a year.
It has since been filled.
Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, last week put all nine provincial education departments on warning, telling them to fill all vacant positions by 31 December or else.
Eastern Cape schools have battled with teacher shortages for nine months. Motshekga confirmed that at the end of June there were 3202 vacancies and that 1117 of them were critical Level 1 positions that included maths, science and accounting.
