Girl caught in school transfer row
Tefo sits home as parties try to sort out the paperwork Testimonial, letter key to transfer
TRUE to the saying that when two bulls fight, it is the grass that suffers, six-year-old Tefo Matomela sits without a school as a result of a pupil transfer dispute between her parents and Nontombi Matta Primary School in Mdantsane.
Tefo started attending classes at the Mdantsane school from Monday, but was turned away after finishing up at the Welgedag Primary School in Springs, Gauteng, when the family relocated.
School principal Kholeka Tshwaku demanded a transfer letter from Welgedag saying the child could not return until her parents furnished the school with the transfer letter.
Tefo is hanging around at home while her peers are at school. The child’s guardian in Gauteng, Nomathemba Masombuka, lashed out at the school for denying the child her right to education – over a small piece of paper.
The provincial department of education has jumped into the fray with spokesman Malibongwe Mtima saying it was standard practice that when a child moved from one school to another, there must be an accompanying transfer letter.
This was not disputed by Masombuka but she was infuriated by the manner in which the school had handled the matter.
“It cannot be that a school sends a child home while other children are learning all because of a piece of paper that can be organised at any time. It is unacceptable,” said Masombuka, who is employed at Tefo’s previous school in Gauteng.
“On Monday I was ready to mail the transfer letter because I am here at this school but they told me at Matta that it is not needed.
“Then on Thursday I am told the child has been sent home because there is no transfer letter.”
Saturday Dispatch visited the school yesterday, with Tswaku saying she could not comment in the media, while Mtima said the transfer letter was non-negotiable.
“Firstly we cannot say the child was sent home because all that was requested is the testimonial [transfer letter] which the parents should have had ready the day they knew the child was changing schools,” Mtima said.
“The principal was well within her rights to demand the transfer because, ultimately, she was the one who was going to account to the department for the child being at the school.
“All learners are captured in a national database for A TRANSFER letter or testimonial is the only way a child can transfer from one school to another, according to provincial education spokesman Malibongwe Mtima.
The letters are essential for official records and pupil assessment purposes.
“Every budget allocation to schools is per the headcount of pupils they have and that can only be done through having an updated database at all times.
“You cannot have unknown pupils in a school because resources are allocated based on the number that the department has for individual schools.”