LEBOGANG SEALE
L ATE-COMING and underperformance at township schools won’t end unless education authorities clamp down on errant teachers.
This is the call by parent organisations and teacher unions. Their pleas came after Gauteng Education MEC Barbara Creecy found that more than 700 pupils and several teachers at Lavela Secondary School in Zola had arrived late.
During her unannounced visit to the school yesterday, Creecy found that pupils were still streaming into the school more than 30 minutes after the first bell had rung at 7.45am.
Groups of pupils kept strolling in at their leisure, missing the 8am bell marking the start of lessons. Many of them were almost an hour late.
Creecy warned that pupils who arrive late would be kept at school and their parents contacted.
The National Association of Parents in School Governance said it was gravely concerned about tardiness at schools. The organisation’s general secretary, Marks Ramasike, attributed the problem to a lack of discipline among teachers.
“We condemn late-coming, but it’s as a result of lack of leadership at the schools. The children respond to what they see in the leadership and, in most cases, they are late because the teachers are late,” he said.
Motsamai Lekata, chairman of the National Association of School Governing Bodies in Gauteng, agreed.
“The problem is that even the teachers are usually late. Our schools in the townships are failing because of poor management.”
Late-coming among teachers is also of grave concern to the SA Democratic Teachers Union. “It’s unacceptable that teachers can be late to school. They must be punctual too,” said Tseliso Ledimo, Sadtu’s Gauteng general secretary.
The attitude at Lavela Secondary School exasperated Creecy and her entourage.
“Whether the sun is shining or it’s raining, you arrive late,” Creecy said, picking on random latecomers and asking them to explain why they weren’t on time.
Some of them appeared unfazed by the MEC’s visit. They chatted, giggled and embraced one another as they huddled together in groups next to the gate.
Creecy said the department had been monitoring Lavela Secondary since last week and had found that, on average, between 400 and 500 pupils arrived late every day.
She said this was possibly one of the reasons why the school’s matric results had plummeted from a 59 percent pass rate in 2010 to 51 percent last year.
Yesterday’s action was a LeadSA initiative. Spokesman Yusuf Abramjee, who accompanied Creecy, confronted some of the lax teachers at the school.
“What will the children say? What example are you setting?” he asked them.