Mother challenges school that failed her son

THE mother of a Grade 11 pupil who failed allegedly due to the late submission of his Afrikaans assessment is challenging the decision by Phoenix Technical School.

She is demanding her son be promoted to matric or she will pursue legal action.

The parent, an officer in the SAPS, claimed her son had to perform a Hindu ritual for his grandmother’s one-year death ceremony – the day his Afrikaans assessment was due.

He was therefore unable to submit the assessment on time, she said.

She said the subject teacher had been informed. “My son was the only designated male member who could perform my mum’s one-year ceremony ritual. I explained this to his subject teacher and appealed to her to submit his written task, but she refused. She indicated that she would not accept it, nor would she mark it.”

The mother believed her son was unfairly treated and failed unnecessarily.

On receipt of his final report, he failed Afrikaans with 28%, and 15% for maths.

“Had he been allowed to submit his assessment, he would have passed Afrikaans.”

The pupil is repeating Grade 11 and repeated Grade 10 in 2017.

He was also found to be absent for 18 days, five of which his mother attributed to the rituals he had to perform.

Four days were allegedly due to illness and the remaining days, she said, were related to exams.

“He would not go to school if he was not writing on the day. He was also not expected to attend school when he was done with exams,” she said.

The Brookdale resident has since written to the circuit manager and the Department of Education requesting that her child be promoted to Grade 12.

She said according to national policy, her son should have been considered as a candidate for progression.

“He met the requirements for progression. He failed and repeated Grade 10, he passed English, he was not absent for more than 20 days, and he made his SBA submission.”

She said a valid reason was given for the late submission and a police affidavit was produced, but the SBA was not accepted.

At the start of the 2019 academic year, the Pinetown district manager visited the school and subsequently informed the parent that the pupil would be allowed to complete his SBA task under supervision.

The pupil completed the SBA but was not given the results. His mother was later informed that her appeal to have him promoted was rejected and his 2018 results were retained.

She has since employed the services of an attorney, who submitted a letter to the school recently stating that should the situation not be rectified, they would “approach the High Court for urgent interim relief and demand the school bear the costs of the application”.

When the Department of Education in KwaZulu-Natal was contacted for comment, spokesperson Muzi Mahlambi said due procedure was followed.

“One of the requirements to progress the pupil is that the pupil must have done all tasks. While we want to progress pupils who are trying and struggling, we can’t promote learners who do not attend school and who do not do their work.”