Pupils in some Grahamstown public schools say they are scared they will fail this year because they're being left to their own devices, without the resources they need to cover the syllabus.
Pupils in some Grahamstown public schools say they are scared they will fail this year because they're being left to their own devices, without the resources they need to cover the syllabus.
In T.E.M Mrwetyana Secondary School, pupils said there are subjects that have no teachers. "It has been a long time that there have been subjects that are not taught here.
"We tried to communicate this to the school management but nothing has worked," said a pupil who wanted to remain anonymous. A matric pupil (who also wanted to remain anonymous) from Nombulelo Secondary School said life is difficult there, too.
He complained of incompetence by the teachers.
"We are now left with the responsibility of having to study by ourselves every day. "For example my maths teacher does not attend classes at all because [of adminstrative duties].
"Now it's difficult for us to learn mathematics and we have to make sacrifices to study and pass difficult subjects," said the pupil.
He said they had tried to raise this concern with the school management and they were told the matter would be addressed.
"The management said it will help us and find a new teacher for mathematics but that has not happened," he said.
Nombulelo School principal, Mthuthuzeli Koliti, resigned towards the end of the first quarter this year. Since that time the school has been without a full-time principal.
The deadline for applications for the position was the end of last month according to sources, who also say it seems clear that the school will finish this year without a full-time principal.
"There is the short-listing and interview process and that takes some time to do," said a source.
Manager at Gadra Education, Ashley Westaway, said they are trying to help some schools in the district.
He said Gadra has a programme where they visit schools and advise and mentor the pupils and teachers on what they can do to ensure that they get good results at the end of the year.
He said they also have individual sessions with pupils and parents. Westaway said Gadra is currently working with five schools in the district.
"We have Ntsika, Nathaniel Nyaluza, Khutliso Daniels, Mary Waters and Velile High School, which is from Bathurst. "Nombulelo and T.E.M Mrwetyana are not part of the programme.
"Their principals do not attend our meetings. The last time Mrwetyana principal came to our meeting was about three years ago. "We only have three pupils from Nombulelo."
He said it is difficult to help pupils from schools that are not participating in their programme. The Matric pass rate at Ntsika improved greatly last year (it went up to 81%) because of the programme, according to Westaway.
Lindelo Ramokolo, principal at T.E.M. Mrwetyana, said there were some empty posts but they have since been filled.
"There were some vacancies in some critical subjects but the department quickly assisted us and filled those posts. "We also had a sick teacher but a substitute is coming to replace him.
"Another one was promoted to a senior position in another school and the department is busy working on finding a substitute," said Ramokolo.
Nombulelo acting principal, Xolani Jonono, could not be reached for comment. The school's telephone was not answered.
