DURBAN - Despite several warnings issued by the Education Department in KwaZulu-Natal against schools which are accused of withholding pupils’ results because of non-payment of fees or missing books, the practice appears to be persisting.
Since the opening of the schools, the Daily News has received several complaints from parents who said pupils' results were being withheld by schools demanding payment for lost books or outstanding school fees.
One of the parents from a certain school in Highflats, South Coast, called the Daily News recently, asking for help after the school withheld his son’s matric statement because of lost books.
The parent, who asked not to be named, said he suspected that his son had failed matric because his name did not appear in the newspaper, but when he went to school to fetch the statement to see which subjects he did not pass, he was told he must first bring the books he had been allocated before he could get the results.
Education spokesperson Kwazi Mthethwa said the department was sick and tired of schools who knew the policy but still violated it, saying the department’s head even issued a circular last year warning schools not to withhold results.
Mthethwa said the department encouraged parents to honour their agreements that they enter into with schools at the beginning of the year, but schools are aware that it was wrong to withhold pupils’ results.
“We issued a circular warning schools to stop this practice, but at the same time, we do not want parents to abuse this policy even if they can afford to pay,” said Mthethwa.
KwaZulu-Natal Parents Association chairperson Vee Gani said it was wrong for a school to disadvantage a pupil because of his or her parents' failures, adding that the schools must deal with the parents and stop discriminating against pupils.
“When I take my child to school and agree to pay the stipulated fee, it is me as a parent who enters into an agreement with the school, not the child, so I'm liable for the agreement, not my child,” said Gani.
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