College’s money harvesting concerns
Parents concerned about Zululand college's status
IRATE parents have expressed concern about the status of local private school, Borruso Harvest College, which they fear is doing business illegally.
The school at Eniwe outside Empangeni, which is linked to an Australian donor Robin Borruso, has been operating since 2011 and enrolls pupils from Grade R up to Grade 10.
The uThungulu Department of Education, however, said the institution is not registered and claims to have no knowledge of its existence.
Borruso College Registrar Clement Masondo admitted to the Zululand Observer that the school is not registered, but is in the process of doing so.
He also confirmed that monies owed to parents cannot be repaid at this stage.
The issue came to light when parents approached the Zululand Observer with their concerns.
‘Like all parents who want a better education for their children, I applied at Borruso for four of my children last November, and was asked to pay a total of R1 600 for all four- money which included school uniforms and school excursions,’ said one parent, Mrs Ngcobo.
She said she approached the uThungulu Education Department at the beginning of the school year to enquire about the status of the college, only to be told it was not registered.
She then went back to Borruso, de-registered all her children, and asked for a refund. Masondo promised to pay back all her money, but to date hasn’t done so.
Ngcobo said all follow-up calls have proved fruitless as Masondo has been unavailable ever since.
Two other parents shared similar experiences when they de-registered their children after learning that it is not a registered academic institution.
In response to these claims, Masondo acknowledged the college owes some parents money.
‘The reason is that the donor Robin Borruso hasn’t transferred donations to the college this year and we are unable to pay their monies back.’
Masondo said they had used the money to buy food for the children at school.
‘As soon as we receive donation money we will refund all parents who removed their children from the college,’ he said.
