Parents of learners at JG Meiring High School are taking matters into their own hands as their pleas are falling on deaf ears.
More than 200 have formed a pressure group to get the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) to intervene in a less-than-ideal situation at the school.
One of their biggest concerns is the rapid staff turnover at JG Meiring and the negative impact it is having on their children.
The group is drafting a petition in the hopes that their grievances will be heard and resolved. “Our children cannot even remember who taught them at the beginning of the year; they’ve had up to six subject teachers in under a year,” one parent, a member of the group, who asked not be named, said.
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Millicent Merton, the WCED’s spokesperson, said a total of 15 teachers had left the school in the last year for various reasons, such as SGB-appointed educators accepting WCED posts, accepting posts overseas, retirement, secondment and maternity leave.
However, the parents claim the number is more than 15.
According to the parents the principal boasts about her friends who protect her.
The parents want a meeting with the principal and SGB; no AGM has been held in two years, the parents say. Only parent meetings with class teachers are held.
Parents are meeting to address the issue, and are standing up for their children and existing staff.
Merton said to her knowledge a petition was underway and the department will comment only after receiving it.
- Parents who wants to know more about the petition can email parents.info2023@gmail.com
