Cape Town - With schools reopening next week, parents of Premier College in Athlone were shocked to learn the school has been closed.
The private school situated in Bamford Avenue, Crawford broke the news via a Whatsapp group text leaving parents and pupils stunned.
In the message sent on Monday at around 3pm, the college stated that they had been forced to close its doors “owing to the termination of the lease by the St Marks Church and the failure to secure an alternative premises despite numerous attempts”.
Parents were then informed they could register learners at Focus College in Wynberg or Stonefountain College in Athlone or “any other school of your choice”. With school fees of R1950 per month, the college was expected to reopen on January 17.
An Athlone mother whose 16-year-old daughter is about to enter Grade 11 says they got wind of the closure last year already.
She says: “Last year, there was a cleaner that used to work at the church, he told us that the school is closing. For months, we’ve been asking teachers if it is really closing and they said ‘no, it's not’. And then when we went to go and fetch reports in December, we asked ‘is school closing?’ and they told us in our faces ‘no, school isn’t closing’.”
Attempts were made to reach the school but Daily Voice did not receive any response.
Gugulethu grandmother Sheila Magwashe’s grandson is also in Grade 11 but now they have to look for another school, saying: “It was at the last minute. We don’t know where to go, will the kids be accepted [at other schools]?”
shakirah.thebus@inl.co.za