A Hout Bay school has apologised after threatening to bar several pupils from writing exams if they did not wear proper school shoes, says the provincial education department.
A letter, signed by Sentinel Primary School’s acting principal, Debri-Lee de Jager, was issued on Thursday November 14 identifying several children for exclusion from the exams if they failed to wear the correct shoes.
The letter was subsequently shared widely across social media.
Ms De Jager said she was not allowed to speak to the media about the contents of the letter.
Western Cape Education Department spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said: “The WCED is aware of the letter that was distributed to a number of Grade 3 parents. The letter was not sent to all the parents of the school, only those parents whose learners were named in the letter.
“The contents of the letter are, however, concerning. While learners must adhere to the uniform policy in the school’s code of conduct, they cannot be prevented from participating in classroom activities, examinations, and, in this case, assessments.“
The WCED said it had addressed the matter with the school management.
“The school has retracted the letter and has written an apology letter to the parents concerned,” Ms Hammond said.
The matter had been addressed and resolved through a parent meeting on Monday November 18, Ms De Jager said.
“We can confirm that we’ve cleared up the issues with the parents and that we had a very good meeting. Also it wasn’t one of the parents who sent out the initial letter that ended up on social media,” she said.
Sentinel was unable to contact the parents affected by the contents of the letter.
GOOD party secretary-general Brett Herron described the letter as “cruel, humiliating and unconstitutional”.
He added: “In its judgment in the Fedsas matter in 2016, the Constitutional Court said a public school ‘must advance not only the parochial interest of its immediate learners but may, by law, also be required to help achieve universal and non-discriminatory access to education’.
“If children without ‘proper shoes’ are denied education, what chance do they have of escaping the cycle of poverty and being able to one day afford shoes for their children?“
Fedsas is the national representative organisation for governing bodies of South African schools, according to its website.
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