A private high school’s announcement that it plans to close its Ysterplaat campus later this month has angered parents and pupils.
Some 200 pupils from Grade 8 to matric attend classes at Focus College’s Yysterplaat campus, and they now face the prospect of having to travel further to the institution’s other campus in District Six.
Parents say they only heard about the closure of the campus at the end of last month when the school’s principal sent them an email.
“My baby is fairly new to the school – doing Grade 9. The news of the closing of the only nearby campus is devastating. We now have to use extra amounts of money to make sure she travels further each day,” said Stephanie Malgas, of Tygerhof.
“The principal says that there are issues with the building, hence the move. However, we should have been told a long time ago. We could have been told this last year already so that we can make prior arrangements. Right now, this is just them basically telling us, the moving is happening whether we like it or not and there is no discussion about it.”
Another parent, who did not want to be named, said her son would have to travel from Richwood to District Six.
“This will be too far for me. I don’t know how we will do this. We can barely get him to school in Ysterplaat. I really wish we knew of this move a long time ago. This is so unprofessional of everyone involved in this decision,” she said.
Her son, who is in Grade 10, said, “It’s difficult now because it’s the middle of the school year. Why wasn’t this decision made long ago. I’m going to have to wake up extra early, and I don’t know how this might affect my academics now. Sleeping patterns will be affected and I don’t know if the school even thought of this.”
Tabletalk has a copy of an email sent to the parents in which principal, Cheslin Petersen, complains that the Ysterplaat campus has been plagued by leaks, collapsing ceilings and electrical faults since it opened in 2018.
“The building was designed to function as a community-based hall for huge community assemblies and not as an educational institution. Focus College has spent an enormous amount of money to make the building compliant in 2018. In 2019, the building became too small. We had to convert the four huge car garages into two big classrooms without financial assistance from the landlords. To date, the capacity of the building does not meet our learner enrolment, placing a lot of strain on the teaching and learning.”
His email goes on to say that the school had decided to transfer all the Ysterplaat campus pupils to the school’s vacant District Six campus.
“The District Six building is registered as an educational institution with the Western Cape Department of Education. Currently, the building is in the process of being enhanced to ensure a safer learning environment for our teachers and learners,” he writes.
Justin Kumlehn, the chairman of the Brooklyn, Ysterplaat and Rugby Residents’ Association, said they were saddened to learn of the move as the school had let them hold their monthly meetings in the building at no charge.
“We understand their reasoning for this move, however. They say they are not getting help from the landlords, and this is causing issues with maintenance of the building.”
Tabletalk approached the school for comment on Friday morning last week. Mr Petersen responded on Monday afternoon, saying the school would respond to questions, but that response did not come by deadline, despite several reminders. And further calls to the school went unanswered.
