LEBOGANG SEALE
THREE teachers at a Soweto school are in trouble for moving pupils to a school that the Gauteng Department of Education had shut down three years ago.
The department said yesterday it was pressing charges of misconduct and insubordination against the three teachers at the now-defunct Megatong Lower Primary School for defying its orders.
The school was merged with the nearby Sediba-Thuto Higher Primary School in 2008 because of a decrease in enrolment at the former institution. The merger seemed to falter because the three teachers from Megatong, who were unhappy about the move, refused to carry out their duties. The teachers, whose identities are known to The Star, were also refusing to take orders from the principal of Sediba-Thuto, Claudio Sono.
Compounding the problem was the fact that the two schools continued to use separate account numbers and letterheads, despite the merger.
Sources told The Star that the teachers, who were the signatories to Megatong’s school account, refused to use funds deposited into their school as long as the merger was not annulled. The teachers are said to have been opposed to the merger because they felt it limited their chances of being promoted.
Matters reached a head last week when the three teachers removed about 68 pupils in grades 1 to 3 from Sediba-Thuto to the old Megatong.
Yesterday, some parents went to the school to demand answers.
“I went to check Megatong and the school was very dirty and too bushy… I don’t understand what kind of a teacher would take children there,” said Dimakatso Molaola, whose child is in Grade 1.
Marble Ramatsu, who has a child in Grade 3, said she was angry because the teachers hadn’t bothered “to inform us, as the parents”.
Yesterday, officials from the Education Department’s district office met the teachers, the principal and the school governing body. The department said it was drawing up charges against the three teachers.
“This action put the lives of the children in danger. It happened without consulting with the department or the parents,” said departmental spokesman Charles Phahlane.