By OBAKENG MAJE
Parents of Grade 12 learners from Reagile Secondary School in Mokassa village, near Taung, accused the North West Department of Education of refusing to approve the school application to have Grade 12 learners. This comes after over 15 Grade 12 learners from Reagile Secondary School were forced to be transferred to Mokgareng High School, simply because their school does not cater for Grade 12 learners.
What makes the matter worse, these learners were allegedly left stranded at Mokgareng High School for a week without attending teaching and learning, simply because the principal was not aware that they were coming. However, the North West Department of Education spokesperson, Elias Malindi said, now this is ‘water under the bridge’ as they managed to resolve the matter.
Malindi said: “Those Grade 12 learners from Reagile Secondary School, who were transferred to Mokgareng High School were admitted. So, they are attending classes as we speak.
“The challenge that we had was, most of them did not come with their parents or guardians. Normally, when learners are admitted, they should come with either a parent or guardian who will take responsibility for that particular learner.”
He said, again, the learners were not even in possession of their reports when they arrived at Mokgareng High School. Malindi further said it was difficult to tell if they have passed or not.
“These learners were informed to come back with their parents including relevant documents. There is a criterion that schools should meet before they could be given any extension of grades.
“Unfortunately, Reagile Secondary School refused to be merged with other schools during rationalisation. So, they were left with only primary school teachers who do not meet the requirements,” he said.
Malindi highlighted that, if the school wants to have Grade 12 learners, the principal has to recruit teachers with proper qualifications for the secondary school. He said that was part of the reason, why the department did not approve their extension to have Grade 12 classes.
The Guardian 