EC MEC for Education, Fundile Gade, must urgently intervene as Jansenville High School, which obtained a 100% matric pass rate in 2022, has closed its doors due to a teacher shortage.
On Friday, 3 February 2023, the principal decided to close the school indefinitely after a meeting with the school governing body (SGB).
Currently, there are learners not receiving any teaching at all, and the school is not in a financial position to appoint teachers to SGB posts.
The following vacancies exist:
- No teacher for Grade 4, and learners are receiving no teaching.
- No mathematics teacher for Grades 8 and 9.
- No Tourism teacher or Mathematical Literacy teacher for Grades 10 and 12.
- To add to these woes, two matric teachers will be going on maternity leave this year for four months each.
The principal of the school is teaching 52 periods out of 55, which is completely unacceptable given the other requirements of his post.
The school previously informed the department of these vacancies and invited the MEC and the Executive District Officer (EDO) in the Sarah Baartman district to a meeting with the SGB.
The meeting was scheduled for Thursday, 2 February 2023. They received no feedback, and a decision was taken by the SGB and parents to close the school until the department can commit to filling vacancies and ensuring quality education.
The DA has now requested, in writing, that the MEC sends departmental officials to meet with the SGB to ensure that the needs of the school are met.
DA Cllr Mandy Deyzel has been working on the ground to assist and has secured over 250 parents’ signatures on a petition for additional teachers. The petition was also sent to the office of the MEC.
The matter was also brought to the attention of the DA’s EC Shadow MEC for Education, Edmund van Vuuren MPL, who will be taking this issue up in the Legislature and will fight on behalf of the learners and the residents of Jansenville.
The DA will not stand by and allow this academic beacon of excellence in the Dr Beyers Naude district to collapse.