Astra Primary shut down over demand to fill teaching posts
Irate parents at Astra Primary School in Bethelsdorp took a stand against the department of education yesterday by shutting the school and demanding that four critical teacher vacancies get filled.
More than 1,000 pupils, including teachers and nonteaching staff, were barred from entering the school premises.
Fed-up parents and the school governing body (SGB) said while closing the school was not ideal, it seemed to be the only way to get the attention of the district and provincial department of education.
SGB chair Hyrone Scheepers said for the school to ensure quality education took place, it employed qualified teachers to fill vacant substantive posts as well as vacancies created by the latest staff establishment.
At present, seven teachers are employed by the school and given a stipend of R5,500 a month.
Besides the teachers, nonteaching staff whose posts have been vacant for almost two decades are also on the payroll.
This means the school forks out R38,000 in salaries every month.
“This is a non-fee-paying school which means that we rely on fundraising and donations from our parents to sustain the situation, but the situation has become untenable.
“We appeal to the department to fill the vacancies of the four teachers and to urgently relook at the staff establishment,” Scheepers said.
He said the school was only able to afford salaries until the end of this month.
Should the four posts become vacant, hundreds of pupils in three different grades would be without a teacher.
Parents said the protest was aimed at avoiding a situation where pupils would need to be split among the remaining teachers, which would see close to 70 pupils in one classroom.
“Such a scenario would be unacceptable.
“It is impossible to expect one teacher to cope with such a large number of pupils.
“This will hamper their learning,” they said.
Parents were adamant the school would remain closed until an agreement with the department on the placing of teachers was reached.
Despite acknowledging receipt of questions, Eastern Cape education spokesperson Mali Mtima failed to respond to requests for comment.