INLSA
Nkosinathi Sishi, HOD of the KZN Education Department.
The KwaZulu-Natal Education Department is to embark on a costly pilot project to do away with “non-viable” combined schools in favour of having only two categories of schools in the province – primary schools from grades R to 7, and high schools from grades 8 to 12.
The move is aimed at bringing the province into line with national education policy and is expected to span a number of years.
The initial confusion about the intention and implementation of the policy led to an urgent meeting between head of department Nkosinathi Sishiand the Governing Body Foundation – an association of 700 schools across the country – yesterday.
The Mercury understands that schools threatened legal action in May after an education district official suggested that junior and senior primary schools in the greater Durban area would be compelled to amalgamate by January 2013 in order to conform. Sishi has, however, allayed those fears.
Yesterday he said that his current priority was to divide battling combined schools into separate primary and high schools.
Non-viable schools were those with enrolment below 300, with only five or six teachers, he said.
“There is no quality teaching and learning there. And you can’t have a five-year-old at the same school as an 18-year-old. There will be bullying,” Sishi said of the rationale behind disbanding combined schools. He was also against senior primary schools offering classes up to Grade 8 – for the same reason.
But Sishi’s quest for quality comes at a price. Where there is now one school, there will be two, and both will have to be staffed. “It will increase our wage bill,” he admitted.
Foundation chairwoman Diane Gammie said almost all its member schools that did not fall into the two categories prescribed by the policy were centres of excellence – and were unaffected.
“We have been reassured that the rationalisation of schools will not happen without careful consultation and due process of the law. Where schools are non-viable and this is proven, there will obviously be educational, financial and social advantages to combining, expanding and, in extreme circumstances, even closing non-functioning schools,” she said.
Gammie said Sishi pledged that the department would not act without negotiating with schools, governing bodies and the communities concerned.
Anthony Pierce, KZN head of the National Professional Teachers’ Organisation, gave the project the green light, but warned it would not be straightforward.
