Meshack Mphokela is now a Numsa member at SA Truck Bodies in Bloemfontein local and also sits on his child’s School Governing Body (SGB) at Ditholoane Primary School in Botshabelo . He tells Judi Mazibuko-Madumo of the importance of being “in charge of the education of our children”.
What do you think made parents vote you onto the SGB?The union taught me how to debate issues and because debating issues leads to understanding them seriously, I then became vocal at this general meeting and was elected deputy chairperson.
Tell me about the decision making processes in the SGB?SGB meetings are held once a month. The principal of the school gives a report of what took place during the month. He informs us about actions that he instituted to address problems and any thorny issue is left to the SGB to discuss.
Have you been divided on any thorny matter?I was first elected as the vice chairperson of the structure during bi-elections. When this term ended, I was then elected as chairperson of the SGB. We had a situation in our school and the governing body was deeply divided. But equipped with skills and experience on crisis management as a shop steward in Numsa, I was able to exert influence on other members of the SGB.
What was the “˜situation’ in which the SGB found itself?A discrepancy was spotted after our books were audited. After intense debate on the matter, the alleged wrongdoer was suspended and investigations were instituted. The verdict was a corrective one and the person was ordered to refund the money within seven days and resume work. The matter was rather sensitive.
How do you deal with matters of misconduct of learners?In extreme cases, the principal, on behalf of the SGB, writes a letter to parents three days before the hearing. The learner is advised of his/her rights, eg. the right to representation by his/her parent. Based on the facts presented before us, we arrive at a corrective decision.
What about parent-indebtedness?We first make investigations on the incomes of parent/s and we also check social grants and decide whether or not to grant any exemption. But the thing that frustrates us as the SGB is that officials tell the public that there is free education and for me education is free in terms of political language and in reality it is not. So when parents hear such statements then they stop paying school fees. I think this is a serious problem.
How much are the school fees?The school fees are R35 per year. We encourage parents to at least pay R5.00 per month. We make thorough investigations on parents’ financial status before deciding on exemption. We also support parents who are not able to pay at all. We give them a portion of land and some seeds to plant. Then they sell whatever was ploughed to the community so that they can raise school fees.
If this is the mechanism you have set in place to recoup money from poor parents by wringing them of their last penny, then for me this structure is no less than the agent for collecting school funds and as such the provision of education in public schools becomes a commodity and not a constitutional right? Like I said, there is nothing like free education, we have to keep the school going, so we are forced to collect fees no matter how. But then again the Schools Act tries to play a balancing act by exempting parents, and the qualifying parent should be totally indigent. However we have structured the exemptions process to be as inclusive and transparent as possible. The general meeting of all parents is called to decide on all applications for exemption. The neighbours are our ears and eyes in that general meeting which has the final say on these matters.
Tell me about the language policy?The matter is still on the table. We want to introduce se-Sotho as an additional subject to cater for kids who stay around the school because at a certain general meeting, parents wanted their kids to be taught in their own languages. Besides the school that caters for both Xhosa and se-Sotho is on the other side of the location and this is too far for the se-Sotho speaking learners. So we want them to be closer.
What is the educator-learner ration in your school? 1:40 and 1:43 , in some instances. We will apply to the Department of Education for the provision of extra human capacity to provide for the extra learners.
If you could, what provisions of the Schools Act would you review or improve? I think the Schools Act on paper is alright. But in practice it is not. I think the Ministry of Education has forgotten all about the foundation phase, when a child starts to learn. For me this is the starting point. We need to put in place some kind of a universal method of assessment of learners from grade one right up, so that come grade 12, then we know that we are not faced with under-prepared matriculants.
Any message for parents who do not see the importance of participating in SGB structures? We must be responsible as parents and be in charge of the education of our children. We must re-direct our efforts on other important educational issues and refuse as SGBs to be made school fees collectors, putting poor parents apart from the rest. For example, in our school, the feeding scheme was put on hold and learners no longer got food. The officials said that this school is for children who are better off, who can afford and then they decided to stop the feeding scheme. We were not involved in the whole process of deciding this route, the district inspectors decided on this unilaterally. We are negotiating with the district to revisit this thing because we really have needy learners in this school.
Have I left anything out? I just want to add that because of my background as a Numsa shop steward, my community takes me very seriously. They come to me for advice for whatever problems they are facing. I refer them to the relevant people. Recently, I intervened in a matter of a comrade who was a domestic worker. Through the skills that I have acquired, I managed to win her an out-of-court settlement of R8000 after she was unfairly dismissed.
Judi Mazibuko-Madumo is Numsa’s national education administrator and one of Numsa’s writers.