Western Cape Education Department MEC Debbie Schäfer has been vindicated after the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) upheld a ruling to close Uitsig High School.
The community and education activists had fought long and hard to keep the school open, even trying to fix up the badly vandalised school themselves.
The WCED decided to close it as it cost too much to maintain and posed a threat to pupils and teachers in its current state.
The Western Cape High Court ruled that Schäfer’s decision to close the school in 2017 was lawful.
Earlier this year, some pupils and their families protested outside the locked gates, forcing them open to continue schooling there.
“In 2017, I decided to close the school due to decreasing learner numbers, the total state of disrepair which the main building is in, and relentless vandalism and theft at the school,” Schäfer said.
“In addition, learner performance is very low, with the school only achieving a 15.4% pass rate in 2018.
“With fewer than 100 learners, the school only qualifies for three teaching posts to teach 91 learners in five different grades, eight different subjects.”
Schäfer said she would now hold discussions with the district officials to seek legal advice on the next steps to take to proceed with the closure of the school, while considering the interests of learners still in attendance.
Education activist Lionel Adriaan said parents wanted to keep the school open as it was the only high school in he community.
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