The Chronicle

GWELO, Wednesday, August 23, 1967 — Government’s recent instruction to parent-teacher associations and school advisory councils to decide whether their individual schools should continue with multiracial sports fixtures or not was a classic example of a lack of courage to govern, Mr Steve Joubert of Gwelo, said today.

Mr Joubert, a former secretary of Thornhill School PTA and the father of three children attending the school, was one of those who opposed the eventual decision of the PTA which is to continue with existing multi-racial fixtures.

He was even more opposed to the government handing over the decisions to the PTAs.

Petitions have now been sent to the Minister of Education by many Thorhnill parents calling on him to ban multi-racial sports in European Government schools.

Referring to today’s Chronicle report on this, Mr Joubert said: “It is of interest to note that the headmaster of Thornhill made it clear that his school will continue in the light of the PTA decision which was to maintain the status quo, and yet the chairman of the PTA is reported to have said that as the matter is of a political nature it does not fall within the jurisdiction of the PTA”.

Mr Joubert said these decisions have been taken throughout the country by either the school advisory councils and/or parent teachers’ associations.

“If it was correct that these bodies had no jurisdiction why were they saddled with the responsibility of taking these decisions?

It is common knowledge that neither school councils nor PTAs are permitted to dabble in matters which are of a political nature as this”, he said.

“Parents are now entitled to have this anomaly clarified as it would appear that the whole matter revolves around ‘ passing the buck’ in the hope that someone will eventually take ownership of a mishandled affair”.