MEC Lesufi threatens to shut down alleged illegal schools in Midrand
IVORY PARK – MEC Panyaza Lesufi said that they are giving the suspected schools 48 hours to present proper documentation, if not they will be closed.
Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi and the Ivory Park Police threatened to shut down two schools in Midrand on 8 October which were allegedly operating illegally.
Lesufi, accompanied by the Ivory Park Police, City of Johannesburg officials and the Gauteng Department of Education officials visited one school in Ivory Park Ext 2 and another in Ebony Park.
Lesufi said that the department had been in the community before, after closing schools that were not properly registered. “But then, we came alone as the department and advised parents to take their children out and enrol them into the public education system. But because the academic programme is too heavy there, some of the children did revert back to these schools and the schools reopened again.”
It is reported that the schools were not registered with the Gauteng Department of Education and some teachers were not registered with the South African Council for Educators. MEC Panyaza Lesufi said that they are giving the suspected schools 48 hours to present proper documentation, if not they will be closed.
During the site visits, 18 people were arrested by the Ivory Park Police. The principals of the two schools were among those who were arrested.
Find the full story in next week’s edition of the Midrand Reporter.
