Illegal Gauteng school still operating
8 February 2010, 17:54
An illegal school at which a seven-year-old girl was raped is still open a month after the Gauteng Department of Education ordered it closed.
The department said in a statement on Monday that the DD Dliwayo Primary School, which operates in Protea Glen, Soweto, and in Vosloorus, Boksburg, had merely changed its name to the Vine Foundation Phase and Senior Primary School.
It had continued to operate from the same two premises.
"The head of department has written to the owners of these schools informing them that they are running illegal schools," said a department spokesman, Charles Phalane.
Pupils registered at the school, 175 from Protea Glen and 205 from Vosloorus, would be transferred to other schools.
Phalane urged parents affected to contact the department's district offices "so we can facilitate the placement of their children in public schools".
"The department would like to strongly advise parents that they should not be fooled by people who change names of their unregistered schools and still continue operating illegally," he said.
"Parents who continue sending their children to illegal schools run the risk of their children getting poor quality education, wasting the time of their children or losing their school fees."
It was illegal for any school to operate without being registered, even if its registration was pending.
Despite defying the department's order to close down, no action would be taken against the directors of the school.
"We will only take action if they again re-open the school without following procedure... we will take them to the police," Phalane said.
The seven-year-old was allegedly raped at the Protea Glen branch of the school on November 30.
A Soweto police spokesman, Inspector Kay Makhubele, said at the time that the girl's mother had noticed that she was bruised and bleeding when she had fetched her from school. A doctor had later confirmed that she had been raped. - Sapa
The department said in a statement on Monday that the DD Dliwayo Primary School, which operates in Protea Glen, Soweto, and in Vosloorus, Boksburg, had merely changed its name to the Vine Foundation Phase and Senior Primary School.
It had continued to operate from the same two premises.
"The head of department has written to the owners of these schools informing them that they are running illegal schools," said a department spokesman, Charles Phalane.
Pupils registered at the school, 175 from Protea Glen and 205 from Vosloorus, would be transferred to other schools.
Phalane urged parents affected to contact the department's district offices "so we can facilitate the placement of their children in public schools".
"The department would like to strongly advise parents that they should not be fooled by people who change names of their unregistered schools and still continue operating illegally," he said.
"Parents who continue sending their children to illegal schools run the risk of their children getting poor quality education, wasting the time of their children or losing their school fees."
It was illegal for any school to operate without being registered, even if its registration was pending.
Despite defying the department's order to close down, no action would be taken against the directors of the school.
"We will only take action if they again re-open the school without following procedure... we will take them to the police," Phalane said.
The seven-year-old was allegedly raped at the Protea Glen branch of the school on November 30.
A Soweto police spokesman, Inspector Kay Makhubele, said at the time that the girl's mother had noticed that she was bruised and bleeding when she had fetched her from school. A doctor had later confirmed that she had been raped. - Sapa
Johannesburg
