Fines, jail time for parents who lie?

A proposal to jail parents who give fake addresses to get their children into preferred schools has come under fire.

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Cape Town - A proposal by the Department of Basic Education to jail parents who lied about their addresses to get their children accepted at a preferred school would not address a core problem of disparity, according to the Federation of Governing Bodies of SA Schools.

The proposal, which is still in the discussion phase, suggests at least six months behind bars for parents who provide “fake addresses”.

“It’s fraud for people to falsify documents for any reason. It can’t be allowed to continue,” said Elijah Mhlanga, spokesman for the Department of Basic Education.

The Western Cape Education Department does not declare any “feeder zones” – the areas surrounding a school from which they source their pupils – and school governing bodies are allowed to determine their own admission policies, in line with the SA Schools Act.

Governing bodies may opt to give preference to pupils from surrounding communities, and refuse to accept pupils from outside these zones.

According to Paul Colditz, chief executive of the Federation of Governing Bodies of SA Schools, parents who “opt to lie in order to get their children admitted into schools outside of the areas in which they live”, could potentially be denying a place in a school for a pupil who lived in close proximity to the school and who had met all other admissions policy criteria.

However, Colditz said the problem was inequality in the school system.

“If about 20 percent of schools are providing an education of a high standard and 80 percent are not, then the 20 percent are not going to be able to cope with the demand. Not enough is being done to improve the quality of education at the 80 percent.”

Tim Gordon, national chief executive of the Governing Body Foundation, said it was reasonable to expect that children who live in the vicinity should be given preference. He said the governing bodies had to ensure that this didn’t result in a skewed demographic and there had to be action in this regard.

Gordon said the foundation was aware of a case where a school had noticed that several applicants had used the same address.

In this case the owner of the house was charging people to use his address.

He agreed that inequality in the system was a contributing factor for parents using fake addresses.

Gordon said the association believed people should be held accountable for using fake documents but said he didn’t necessarily support the suggested punishment.

Mhlanga made it clear that the proposed bill was still in the discussion phase.

“There is no decision taken as yet. In fact we have a long way to go still.”

Asked if the national department should instead focus on improving the quality of education at underperforming schools rather than propose punishment for parents seeking a better level of education for their children, Mhlanga was adamant: “In fact communities must do their part.

“They must become effectively involved in the affairs of the school, attend meetings, monitor teaching and learning, protect schools and maintain schools.

“By running away from these schools, they are not solving a problem. School governing bodies are the first line of school governance and management.

“If they want good schools they will have them through the effective use of powers vested in them by law,” Mhlanga said.

Jessica Shelver, spokeswoman for Western Cape Education MEC Debbie Schäfer, said school admissions policies were subject to the constitution and relevant legislation.

“Parents can appeal to the Minister of Education if they believe that a school has contravened their constitutional rights.”

She said the department had received some complaints from parents whose children were not accepted at schools because they lived outside of the feeder zones determined by governing bodies.

“The Western Cape Education Department investigates all complaints and advises parents, accordingly.”

The department had not received any complaints about parents lying about their addresses to get their children into specific schools.

What principals had to say

 

Every child deserves a decent education, said Trafalgar High School principal Nadeem Hendricks.

 

Hendricks said about 80 of the pupils at his school come from areas “outside of the catchment area” but said their addresses meant nothing to him.

“If people are lying about where they live so their children can go to a better school it is mostly because they see that education in the areas they live in has collapsed; schools where there aren’t sufficient resources.

“So you as a parent will look at that and look at what is the best for your child.”

He said the department should rather focus on improving the quality of education across the board.

“This would be applying an apartheid kind of rule, it is absolute discrimination.

“There is a perception that if you go off to a certain school you have a better chance in life… this is the reality.”

He reiterated that the proposed Bill would be in violation of the constitution and the Bill of Rights.

“Our children give their addresses and we don’t look at them. I have never in my career as principal turned a child away no matter what area they come from because I believe a child has a right to a quality education.”

He added that he believed the proposed Bill was an “attack”, saying: “They (the government) want children to stay in the ghettoes where they rot away, it cannot be right.”

At Höer Skool DF Malan in Bellville, pupils from as far as Atlantis make their way to the school, and principal Joh Dorfling said they accept pupils regardless of where they lived.

“We have children from outside so it is not a big problem for us to take children from outside areas.”

She added that she was not familiar with the practice of parents falsifying addresses and said if they had space to do so, they would admit a pupil despite where they lived.

Bellville High School principal Den du Plessis said falsifying of addresses was not something that had happened at the school and they readily accept pupils even if they live far away from the “catchment area”.

“We have a policy that they must prove that they live at that address. As long as we have a place we will place them.

“Lots of pupils are accepted even if they are far away.

“We get pupils from 14 different primary schools. Because we are an Afrikaans school we accept over a broad area.”

He added that the school was strict with parents and required them to fill in their proper addresses and have admissible proof of address, but that would not impact on the child’s chances of admission.

Parents go the extra mile to give their children a better chance

The South African Constitution’s Bill of Rights enshrines everyone’s right to education, yet some parents have to go to extraordinary measures to get their children a good education.

Some parents falsify addresses, make extra travel arrangements, or send their children to live with relatives in the hopes of being accepted into schools that offer a higher standard of teaching.

A teacher from Milnerton told the Cape Argus of how she took her sister’s nine-year-old daughter in to live with her and her family so the child could access a school.

The parents agreed to speak to the Cape Argus anonymously because they feared their child might be ridiculed at school.

The nine-year-old left behind her life in Khayelitsha to attend school in Milnerton.

The teacher said: “Sometimes it is more than the quality of education, it is the kind of life the child has there.

“Her mother worked far (in Fish Hoek) and left before her child went to school and when she came back she wasn’t able to help with her schoolwork.”

The teacher, who asked not to be named, said she did not believe changing schools was the answer to a better education.

“As a parent you just have to be there for your children and help them with homework and support them, especially when they are still in the foundation and intermediate phases. A parent’s help can make a huge difference.”

Another mother from Khayelitsha said she falsified her address to get her child into Bellville Primary School because she said it is a well-resourced school.

She said the school is about 30km from their home, but she chose it because gangsterism and “carelessness” from teachers in Khayelitsha would affect her child’s learning.

“I have no idea what the school would do if they found out about this, but I suppose they will take disciplinary steps against us. But getting my child a better education is worth the risk.”

She said she knows of many other parents who do the same.

“As much as it is an offence to falsify your identity, in this case I think (the proposed bill to jail parents who falsify information) it’s a bit too far. The government should investigate why parents would go to the extent to falsify their addresses to get their children a better education, which is the right of everyone. The playing fields should be levelled before punitive measures are put in place for such offenders.”

The mother of a Grade 1 pupil said she also falsified her address to get her child admitted to a school outside their suburb.

“I thought my child would get a better education there; it is far and transport is tricky to get there, but as a parent you would do anything for your child to get a good education. I don’t think it is fair that parents could be criminalised; you just want the best for your kids. There is nothing wrong about wanting education to come first.”

ilse.fredericks@inl.co.za

Cape Argus