School under fire for withholding reports

A Phoenix school has come under fire after withholding end of year reports of learners whose parents have not settled their school fees. Last Friday, Lenarea Secondary School told parents to pay an amount towards the fees before releasing learners’ progress reports. Parents who were unable to pay towards the fees were deprived of the report cards and told to come back another day to make payment.

Basic Education Minister, Angie Motshekga, previously condemned the act of withholding reports, stating that the law did not allow schools to do so. Speaking to the Phoenix Tabloid, a parent, who did not want to be named, said: “As a single parent of a teenager, I would like to vehemently voice my utter disgust at the way we are being treated at the school when it concerns my son’s report card and unpaid fees. Firstly, the past two years have taken a toll not only on the education system but also our livelihoods. The children have not been to school consistently because of Covid, so how do they expect us to pay for services that were not rendered? “If the government imposed restrictions and lockdowns surely they would have considered the implications and after effects of the lockdowns, which is in no way the fault of my child or myself. If the children attended less than half a year of school, then am I still responsible for the full amount?” Another parent said that he was retrenched in June. “I didn’t have any money and I had to borrow money from a relative just so I could get my child’s report. I lost my job in June and it’s been really difficult to make ends meet ever since. Schools are well aware of the challenges many parents faced due to Covid. “Teachers themselves were not at work for many months, fortunately for them, they were paid. The school wants us to commit to a monthly instalment despite the challenges faced by unemployed parents. This is unethical,” said the irate parent. According to a source, the school was reeling financially as it does not receive enough funding from the government to sustain itself.

Dr Imran Keeka, Member of the Provincial legislature in KZN, Democratic Alliance Spokesperson on Education, said that it was worrying and illegal for schools to not issue reports to learners whose parents have not settled their fees. “Such withholding of reports because of delayed or non-payment of school fees is illegal. Principals should know this by now. While there has to be a balance between arranging to pay and payment of school fees by parents and the school’s responsibility to collect these fees, parents cannot be strong armed especially when it is unlawful to do so,” said Dr Keeka. “It is understandable that many have fallen on hard times given the massive job losses of recent and schools, while having a responsibility of ensuring their own financial viability, can enter into payment agreements and acknowledgement of debt to recover funds. But this kind of peremptory action must be condemned if it is true.”