Khayelitsha students protest lack of teachers

Nearly a month into the new school year, students at Uxolo are complaining that subject teachers for Business and Life Sciences for Grade 12 classes have still not been allocated, and neither has a Life Science teacher for Grade 10.

Education Department officials say they are involved in a labour dispute with a Business Science teacher who teaches Grade 10 and 11 but refuses to teach matrics.

Students in the Business class alleged they were promised a week ago that a teacher would be allocated by 9 February. But on Monday, they arrived to find an empty classroom yet again.

When GroundUp arrived at the school, about 200 students were protesting in the road; others were being escorted off the school grounds by teachers.

Two staff members, who refused to give their names, were extinguishing a small fire in front of a classroom where students had moments before set alight two plastic chairs.

Among the students who were forced to vacate their classrooms, 18-year-old Jabulile Mngomezulu said matriculants were tired of waiting for the school to appoint teachers.

“The matrics have been going to the staff room to complain, but no one listened. The Grade 12’s have had enough because they will be writing soon and have not even had a proper lesson. The principal was supposed to handle it, but instead he called the police, which made us very angry,” he said.

Mngomezulu said that the Grade 10 class was without a Life Science teacher.

Grade 11 student Momalelo Sipuni said that while he understood the students’ plight, he believed they should have approached the governing body or the Education Department before participating in a protest which disrupted the entire school.

“This should be their last resort. The protest affects the whole school because they started making so much noise. We all had to leave our classes,” he said.

“When I was in Grade 10 last year, my class didn’t have a Maths Literacy teacher. The principal taught us, but he has his other duties so most of the learners failed,” said Sipuni.

Equal Education’s Raphael Chaskalson said that beside the issue of a lack of teachers, students raised several other concerns allegedly ignored by school staff.

“We heard that the Grade 10 class was also waiting for a teacher and the that no RCL [Representative Council of Learners] had been appointed — along with other complaints. We tried to speak to the school headmaster and the circuit head, but they insisted that they were only dealing with the issues relating to the matrics. We were told that the matrics would be offered tutors, but this doesn’t really resolve the problem,” he said.

Chaskalson said the issue was not isolated and it was a serious problem at many other schools.

Following a two hour meeting with the matrics, newly appointed circuit manager for Uxolo, Francois Lubbe, said the students agreed to attend afternoon classes with a tutor from Tuesday.

“I had a very good meeting with the class representatives and started establishing a relationship with the rest of the grade. I told them we were aware of the problem, but their behaviour today was unacceptable. Because the children didn’t bring their textbooks today, we agreed they would attend class with a tutor from tomorrow,” he said.

Lubbe said he was in the process of arranging for a tutor to stand in as substitute teacher until the labour matter with the Business teacher was resolved.

Lubbe also said he was aware of the other issues raised by students protesting outside.

“It would not be appropriate to address students about these things in the street. Learners feel they are not being heard at the school, so we are hoping to have the RCL elections by the end of this week. It will resolve a lot of these problems,” he said.