Two 16-year-old students who were kept out of school for years after they got an ancestral calling are being denied access to class because they are “overage”.
Akona Fesi and Bongiwe Ndaba said in an interview that officials at Pholosho Secondary School in Alexandra, Johannesburg, had refused to enroll the two in Grade 9, despite one of them claiming to have a letter from the district stating that the child must be enrolled there.
Frustrated parents blocked teachers from entering the school on Wednesday morning over the non-placement of their children.
The parents were accompanied by EFF members as they demanded that pupils be allocated space at Pholosho. Teachers were only allowed into the school just after 9am.
Basic education spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said it is compulsory for children between grades 1 and 9 to be in school.
“Schools must accommodate learners, especially if they were already in the system. They should not be denied admission because of age,” Mhlanga said.
Sources: MSN, Press Reader
Follow FiND iT on Facebook here.
ALSO READ: Parents ‘expel’ 17-year-old Grade 7 ‘bully’
