School tells parents it can't afford to print reports... in a printed notice

The management of a Durban school may have skipped the logic class when it sent out notices to parents telling them that it's too poor to print report cards.

"Why couldn't they just print the report using the same paper and ink that they used for the letter?" one parent asked TimesLIVE.

In the letter dated March 12, the principal of Roseland Primary School in Newlands invited parents to school on April 11 from 4pm to 6pm to view their children's academic progress.

"The school is unable to print any reports due to the financial constraints the school is faced with. We will not issue any information before 4pm. You may come to school to fetch a letter for your employer to dismiss you early on the date," the principal Brenda Davids said.

The mother of a grade 5 pupil told TimesLIVE that she was in utter shock when she received the letter.

"I have never heard of a child not receiving a report," she said.

She then started to question how the school management could afford to print letters to send home to every pupil and for parents to take to their employers but were unable to issue report cards.

"I can’t wrap my head around their logic. I have a file where I keep all my child's reports, school photos and everything she does in the year like cards and things she achieves in school. Now I won't have the first term's report," she said.

Another parent said she understood that the school was financially strapped due to non-payment of school fees however she had paid her grade 3 son's fees.

"I think we are more angry because we know this could have been rectified by simply printing the report card instead of wasting paper and ink on letters informing us that there are no report cards."

"How can they not see how silly this whole thing is?"

The principal could not be reached for comment, however KwaZulu-Natal education department spokesman Kwazi Mthethwa called on her to immediately release the pupils' results.

"As a department we do not get involved in the day to day running of a school. That function belongs to the school. No one is allowed to withhold results of any learner. We are calling upon the school to be reasonable and give learners what is due to them."

Mthethwa said he wasn’t aware of the letters that were sent home to parents.

"We have not seen any letters. But if it is true, how can the school claim that they don’t have resources to print any documents but they are printing another document. It's a serious contradiction," he said.

He added that school reports can be printed on cardboard or paper.

"No one needs glossy reports. A report is a report whether its on cardboard or paper. If it comes to a push, print it on paper," he said.