Laerskool Theresapark SGB defends move to scrap Afrikaans

Tension is brewing at Laerskool Theresapark, Pretoria, over a call by the school governing body (SGB) to terminate Afrikaans as a medium at the parallel medium school.

Mogomotsi Tlhoaele, SGB chairperson, said the proposal to end the dual-medium system is not racially motivated but aims to make the school financially sustainable.

“It’s not true the school is trying to force out pupils learning in Afrikaans because of spite. It’s no longer working for us. There has been a decline in pupils enrolling for Afrikaans.

“You find you only have five or 10 children in an Afrikaans class, whereas in English classes there are more than 30. The school loses fees and the roll of the school is being affected. The rest of the school has to subsidise the running of the Afrikaans classes.

“There’s also an imbalance in workflow, where some teachers are marking five scripts while others are doing more than 40,” Tlhoaele said.

This system has resulted in an imbalance in social life around the school and the quality of education, said the SGB chair.

When TimesLIVE visited the school on Friday morning, it was quiet, with no parents on site. Pupils could be heard shouting on the grounds while they played soccer.

The publication was informed that a group of protesters arrived earlier to hand over a memorandum to the school and left.

A memo from the Bittereinders youth movement, saying they were authorised to speak on behalf of some parents, called for a departmental inquiry into the school and demanded that pupils be allowed to finish their schooling in Afrikaans.

They alleged Afrikaans pupils were housed in inferior classrooms such as storerooms.

Tlhoaele said: “The SGB has never taken Afrikaans pupils to learn in a storeroom. We are not aware of that. The rumours are not true.”

Tlhoaele said they are losing income from fees as a result of the dual medium system.

“We are losing R2m in school fees we would have had from the classes catering for Afrikaans.

“The SGB doesn’t want to chase away pupils. We have been engaging the department on the issue.”

In a reply to TimesLIVE, Gauteng education spokesperson Steve Mabona said the department was “managing” the situation.

He told Newzroom Afrika: “There is no child who will be discriminated against because of a language in all our schools. The grapevine [rumour] that they have [been discriminated against at Theresapark] is not an official stance of the department, that we are going to chase away pupils doing Afrikaans in that school.

“What we have heard is that the numbers of pupils taught in Afrikaans are too low. We are informed the SGB was saying they probably need to be transferred and placed at neighbouring schools.

“We understand that the demographics changed drastically in the area.

“At some point the school introduced Setswana and the number of pupils doing Setswana are also low. They are [apparently] also taught in repurposed areas, such as a room that was a store room, gym or any other space the school will deem fit to repurpose. They are saying because the numbers are low, teach them in this area,” he told the broadcaster.

“It is not that the language is being discriminated against and they want it phased out of the school. No, education is about numbers. Numbers dictate how you manage the school environment.”

The SGB chair told TimesLIVE: “This issue has not been properly addressed. It’s not a racial war. It makes sense for fee paying schools. When the SGB hires employees, it doesn’t hire them to fill in a gap but as specialists. It also creates a HR mess because we have to hire a teacher for 10 pupils.

“The department gave the school funds to build four classes as a result of the space shortage. We are on a verge of overcrowding the school. There’s high demand in the area for English.

“The department should be assisting to move the pupils to Afrikaans schools in a proper and negotiated way,” Tlhoaele said.

Ructions at the school were reported last year. 

In August, Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi presented a report on the school that confirmed allegations of maladministration against some staff members and members of the SGB.

In May, principal Dorothy Mabaso was thrown out of her office, allegedly by a group of disgruntled parents.

Tlhoaele said the principal was on special leave.

TimesLIVE