Parents upset at school moves
THE TULBAGH community is upset over the “short notice” given that the primary school at Tulbagh High School would be moved to Waveren School in January, stating that incomplete construction would affect learners.
The community had two combined schools, Waveren and Tulbagh, and both had primary and high school learners. Waveren’s high school learners would now be moved to Tulbagh, and Tulbagh’s primary school learners to Waveren. There will now be a dedicated high school and a dedicated primary school.
Maddenia Davis, a co-ordinator for the Concerned Parent Body of Waveren School, said that for a few years the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) had spoken about its intention to merge the two schools.
“The message was that after construction was done at Tulbagh High School they would start with construction at Waveren, and that the schools would only merge when work at Waveren was completed.
“The school at Waveren is not conducive to the health of learners due to many factors, of which asbestos classrooms are one of the biggest concerns,” Davis said.
Vanessa le Roux, the founder of a group called Parents for Equal Education SA, wrote to Education MEC Debbie Schäfer stating that Tulbagh High was not ready to take primary school learners, but said that their concerns were ignored.
Schäfer, however, said she had received a petition and complaint from parents in the area and a full written response was sent to the parents nearly a week ago, “so it is false to claim that they have received no feedback”.
“With regards to the claims about safety, no evidence has been produced of alleged asbestos on the school site. In the event of there being any asbestos it will be broken/removed, with suitable measures taken to protect anyone in the vicinity,” she said.
She said it must also be made clear that the construction at Waveren was entirely separate from the learners.