Parents at two schools in Mabopane, northern Pretoria, feel aggrieved after their children were deprived stationery after they failed to pay R50, which was imposed to parents who did not come to clean the school earlier this year.
Sowetan has established that Tebogo and Nong primary schools asked parents to come and clean the school in preparation for the new academic year.
Sowetan has seen a letter sent by Nong Primary before the school reopened informing the parents about R50 payment, while at Tebogo parents were informed about this request on the day of reopening of the schools. Any parent who failed to pitch for the cleaning at the schools was expected to pay a R50 “donation”. This is a once-off payment at the beginning of the year.
One of the parents at Tebogo Primary, who cannot be named for fear of victimisation, said her child, who is in grade 2, has been denied stationery by the teachers until she pays the R50.
“I am not happy about what the school is doing. I feel like I’m discriminated because I do not have money. We do not come from the same families. Some of us are really struggling financially. I am not working and rely on a social grant.
“It was difficult for me to get the school uniform. I tried my best doing piece jobs in December to get money for the school uniforms. I will have to wait until I get the next social grant payment to pay this money,” she said.
Another parent, whose child goes to Nong, said her child has also been denied stationary as she was also unable to pay the donation.
“This is really sad,” she said.
Other parents at Nong said in the past, a call would be made for them to come and clean the school but no-one would be punished for not coming through.
“While we were cleaning the school, we asked the teachers where does the R50 go to. They said it goes to the school bank account. We then asked if it goes to the school account, why then don’t you hire people to clean the school. They could not answer us,” one parent said.
No-fee schools, which these two school belong to, are not allowed to charge parents money as they are fully subsidised by the government.
Matakanye Matakanye, general secretary of the National Association of School Governing Bodies, said the organisation has heard of similar incidents in other schools in Gauteng and Free State.
“It is wrong for the children to be punished just because their parents do not have money,” he said.
He added that the law allows the school governing body to raise funds for any needs of the school. He said the governing body can also request assistance from the municipality to help in the cleaning of the school.
Last week, basic education minister Angie Motshekga told reporters at media briefing on school readiness that donations are allowed in schools as they help improve school infrastructure.
“Children whose parents cannot pay the money cannot be victimised if they are not paying. When parents decide to donate, let us encourage them but if they can't, children can't be victimised,” Motshekga said.
Gauteng education spokesperson Steve Mabona couldn't be reached for comment as he did not reply to email and text messages.
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