Athlone school fights government’s threat to close it

Shaheed Hanslo is in grade 11 at the school. “The Government has a plan of action, but we do not have a say. For me that is wrong. Where does democracy come in? Each child has a right to education. They do not know how it feels to be in Grade 11 waiting to go to matric. We also have a right to be heard.”

Peak View was a primary school until 10 years ago. Then it became a high school. It was originally intended to serve learners in the Bridgetown area, but most of the learners now come from surrounding areas.

Western Cape MEC for Education, Donald Grant, sent the School Governing Body (SGB) a letter dated 3 July 2012. The letter said that the school would close on 31 December 2012. The provincial government gave several reasons for the decision. It says the school had poor National Senior Certificate results over a number of years, declining academic performance in all grades and a very low pass rate in English. It also said that two thirds of the school’s learners are from outside the community.

But the school’s principal, Mr. O. P. De Villiers disputes this. “We are on the right path. We are turning things around from [a pass rate of] 18.7% in 2011, we have reached 74% and we are going now for 75% in the September mock examination and over 80% in the final examinations.” In 2012, the school introduced isiXhosa as a home language option. This was to cater for Xhosa-speaking learners who were struggling with English home language and this has helped improve results according to Leon Linz, an educator who has been tutoring at the school. Linz told GroundUp that research shows, “that Xhosa-speakers who do isXhosa home language as a subject instead of English home-language, do better overall.”

Linz also said, “If there are problems, they can be addressed and solutions found. It would be unjust to write the school off.”

In response to the reason given for the closure that a large number of Peak View’s learners are from outside the area, Linz said, “I work at a school where over 90% of learners travel further than those at Peak View to get to school. And there are a number of city schools which have largely ‘transported’ learner populations.”

Access to Information Request

Lisa Draga, an attorney with the Equal Education Law Centre, explained that Peak View contacted Equal Education for help because it was one of 27 schools marked for closure by the provincial government. She said that Equal Education was concerned that poor performance was given as a reason for closure because this is not a problem unique to specific schools across the province or the country. She said Equal Education was also concerned that one of the reasons given for closing the school is that learners come from areas outside of the community. She said that integration of schools was necessary and not a reason to close a school.

Equal Education has used the Promotion of Access to Information Act to ask the provincial educational department for

• Peak View’s National Senior Certificate pass rates,

• a list of underperforming schools,

• what the department had done to support the school,

• reasons for the closure and

• what process would be followed to close the school.

Draga explained that their request was initially denied by the department, so Equal Education appealed. The department “had a change of heart”, says Draga. “I was contacted by the Head of Department on Friday and was informed that the department now agrees with Equal Education that the matter is one of significant public interest. It has now [given us] a list of documents in its possession.” The law centre is still reviewing the documents.

Province’s response

GroundUp asked Paddy Atwell, the Director of Communication for the Western Cape Education Department, what steps the government had taken to support the school. In a long email response, Atwell said the department “created an environment that is conducive to teaching and learning” by giving motivational talks to staff and learners. The email lists dozens of actions the department says it has taken to assist the school.

Yesterday, a press release by Penny Vinjevold, the provincial head of education, listed the schools marked for closure and the reasons for closing them. It said that the learners from Peak View would be moved to Bridgetown High and other schools.

Premier Helen Zille published an article on the Democratic Alliance website yesterday on the school closures. She blamed the ANC and SADTU for the furore on school closures, writing, “The [Education] Department will do whatever it can to initiate and maintain an open and frank debate. However, I expect the process to degenerate into high-profile public posturing led by the ANC and SADTU. The last thing on their minds is the interest of the learners.” She wrote that by 2015 the provincial government will have built 81 new schools catering for 30,000 learners, of which 31 were already completed. “So why has the public focus been exclusively on the 27 proposed closures?” she asked.

School mobilising against the closure

Clement Meyer, who is the chairperson of the Athlone Central Branch of the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU), said, “We stand in solidarity with Peak View. We consider the Western Cape Education Department’s intention to close not only Peak View but another 27 schools in the Western Cape as a blatant attack on poor working class communities. It is also seen as a racist attempt to bring back the old apartheid divisions. Furthermore the department under DA management refuses to consult with unions and broader community organisations to resolve this and draw up a comprehensive plan for education for all, not only the elite.”

The Peak View Concerned Committee has been set up to save the school. It has called the decision to close the 27 schools, “an unjust, undemocratic and vicious attack on the pupils, teachers and community.” In a meeting on Saturday 4 August the committee called upon schools, churches, mosques and community organisations to support them by writing submissions to the provincial education department explaining that the schools should not be closed.

Under the banner of Save Our Schools, a picket was held on Tuesday on Klipfontein Road. More marches, pickets and pickets have been planned for the coming weeks. On Friday Save Our Schools will march to the provincial legislature demanding that the school closures be halted.