Mr Touray said this has not been happening, except for this year, which is why they (parents) put the matter to the Headteacher. He said the discussion was done in the presence of one of the Board Members of the school.
Mr Touray said their demands are for the school to allow the teachers that are teaching their kids from 8am to 2pm, to continue the two hours of study with their children.
“If you happen to trust a teacher to teach a particular child or children from 8am to 2pm, why can't you be comfortable with that same teacher teaching the kids for the next two hours? If they (the school management) are claiming some other unprofessionalism that has been happening, why are they allowing that particular teacher to be teaching the kids for those long hours, and then deny him or her the two hours?” Mr Touray questioned the school’s decision to change teachers for studies.
Before the protest staged by the parents, The Point newspaper received intel that teachers of the school refused to stay for an extra two hours to take the pupils for studies due to disagreements they had with the management regarding their payments.
The informant revealed that the school management had increased the number of students in the various study classes without increasing payment for teachers. Our source further revealed that the teachers complained that they were being paid D4,000 when the school is receiving over D10,000 from each of the study classes.
The source said that when the headteacher of the school refused to meet the demands of the teachers, they also stopped staying for studies, then the school went and brought teachers from other schools to take students for the extra hour classes.
“They (the school management) need to make their employees, the teachers, happy, so that they can do well with the kids. And if the kids are happy, the parents are happy, and then everybody is happy. So, that is the underlying information that we told them, that we need to see the board, to talk to them, and put our concerns to them,” Mr Touray told The Point.
Mr Touray said each student is paying D1,050 per term (every three months) as study fees. He said the study fees are embedded in the school fees. He said study fees combined with school fees are D7,000 for each student per year.
Mr Mustapha Mbaye, also a parent, expressed dissatisfaction over the school’s decision of embedding the study fees into the school fees. He said some students choose not to attend the study classes, yet they are forced to pay the school fees because it is embedded.
“If you don't pay everything, you will not be allowed, your child will not be allowed in school. They start sending the children out of the school. The children were sent home yesterday and this prompted us parents to come and talk to them about the decision to send our children home,” he said.
Mr Mbaye said most of the parents went to the bank to do the payment for the school fees, while omitting the study fees. He said the parents don't want to pay for the study fees now when their children are not receiving quality studies.
Mr Mbaye said the parents are told by the bank that they must pay both the school fees and study fees together, Otherwise the payment would not be effected. He said this eventually gave the school the go ahead to send the children away from the school.
“So what we are saying is, you can't send a child out of the school because he doesn't pay study fees. That is against the education policy. And they did it on purpose. And we want the board to review that and look into it. Because sending children away when their parents have paid D6,000, and for only D350 you send them away - because they need to pay D350 per month,” Mr Mbaye told The Point.
Mr Mbaye said they believe that embedding the study fees into the school fees is against the education policy. He calls on the Board of Ndow’s school to ensure that they listen to their concerns.
“And also bringing teachers from outside to come and conduct those studies, when there are teachers in the school that are supposed to do those studies. It is something our children are not happy with and they are not happy with the teachers that they are bringing from outside,” he said.
