Mike Maringa, a representative for the education department of Limpopo, has refuted that Advice Motene will be in eighth grade for the sixth time this year.
“Motene is a grade 8 student who spent three consecutive years in the senior phase. He stated, “He is an ill-disciplined student, and all attempts to include the parent about his behavior and lack of discipline failed because the father never accepted a single invitation.
According to Motene’s grandfather, a straightforward investigation by the department, consisting of interviews with instructors, students, and members of the community, will determine how long Motene has been in eighth grade and his behavior at school and in the neighborhood. Clearly, they are not discussing Advice, he stated.
Maringa said that Motene’s family came to the school to demand Advice’s advancement, and added that they also intimidated the principal.
“The principal explained that there are additional requirements for advancement, including student attendance and SBA [school-based assessment] compliance,” he stated.
“It is not accurate that the school had acting principals for five years, as has been asserted. Mr. MT Leopeng held a permanent position till his retirement in December 2021. In 2022, the acting principal was the deputy principal, and in October 2022, a permanent principal took over.
Matshumane Secondary School is one of the state-of-the-art schools in the district and is provided with all the essential facilities for providing outstanding teaching and learning, thus all other charges are unfounded and without merit.
The national education department did not react to inquiries posed to it.
The Equal Education Law Centre’s deputy director, Robyn Beere, stated that the promotion and progression policy was transparent.
“A student cannot repeat more than once per educational phase. Then, you must be advanced to the subsequent phase with assistance. Under unusual circumstances, you may repeat a phase twice, but you will require continued care. Clearly, a student cannot repeat the same grade six times.
“This is a complete violation of the policy,” she stated.
“The purpose of the policy is to ensure that students progress – more or less – with their age cohort, so that 18- and 19-year-old students do not sit with 13- and 14-year-old students.”
Beere stated that there were a variety of possibilities for students based on their aptitudes, including schools of skills and skill-based programs.
Pearl Nicodemus of Section 27 stated that a strong intervention was required at the school to ensure the protection of students’ rights to a basic education.
»School intervention is required, according to Section 27«