Teaching at Parkside’s John Bisseker Senior Secondary School has not resumed after the school governing body (SGB) ordered the school to close on Friday in protest at the lack of teachers.
The cost of school uniforms is crippling parents, who have expressed their frustration at Eastern Cape schools forcing them to buy from either the school’s own shop or a single supplier, with no way to save costs. Last week, Competition Commission spokesperson Siyabulela Makunga said they had received more than 220 complaints across the country about high uniform costs and possible violations of the Competition Act.
A John Bisseker Secondary School pupil was rushed to hospital on Wednesday after being stabbed in the hand, allegedly by a classmate. The incident involved two grade 10 schoolboys. According to a pupil, the fight started before school when one boy bumped into another one cleaning his shoes. The second boy allegedly reprimanded him.
At least 10 Eastern Cape schools have been prioritised for infrastructure upgrades and the building of new hostels. This was announced on the same day it was revealed that grade 4 pupils in SA have come last out of 57 countries in an international assessment on reading. The results of the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (Pirls), released by the department of basic education on Tuesday, revealed local pupils had achieved an average score of just 288, significantly below th.
Instead of preparing for their midyear exams, more than 1,000 pupils at an East London high school have been sitting at home for 10 days in protest against the school’s crumbling infrastructure and staff shortages.