The Khayelitsha pupils who were a part of the 84 pupils initially rejected by Usasazo Secondary School have finally been given placement at the school.
On Wednesday, parents returned to the school with the intention of shutting it down, if their children were not placed in classrooms by the school.
Upon arrival at the school parents and community members met with the school principal. The principal then liaised with the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) and the two parties reached an agreement.
This agreement meant that the children could be placed in the Grade 8 class in which they had applied for last year.
On Tuesday, the frustrated parents went to the school to confront the principal about the delays in placing pupils. The group of parents then decided to disrupt lesson ordering teachers to stop lessons until the matter was resolved.
According to the organiser of the school shut down, Siphosethu Runqu, the problem started on the day of the reopening of schools when 84 pupils were rejected due to the school being full.
Upon research and engagements with the principal, the parents discovered that there was a vacant classroom that had tables and chairs which could be suitable for teaching.
However, the principal said he did not have enough staff to teach the extra class.
“The principal complained that his staff had been decreased and had not been replaced by the department. We demanded that those classes accommodate the 84 pupils because these children cannot be home this year, they applied last year, therefore, should be placed,” said Runqu.
Runqu said they had meetings with WCED officials who then promised to equip the school with mobile classrooms, more chairs and two additional teachers.
Following the new developments of the children being placed at the school, the parents, WCED officials and the school governing body will be engaging in a meeting.
The meeting will be about the new teaching schedule that will have to accommodate the new pupils until additional teachers are employed.
‘We are happy that this issue is being resolved because the delay has caused these children to fall behind in the academics and that is what we need to ensure is handled fast,” said Runqu.