School puts pupils' lives in limbo

THE Limpopo education department is yet to release the findings of its investigations into an incident at a school where some Grade 12 pupils were barred from writing their final exams.

The seven pupils have told Sowetan that they did not receive their exam timetables and exam numbers. This means the school had failed to register them with the department.

The principal and vice-principal of Kgagatlou Secondary School at Seleteng in GaMphahlele allegedly did not register the pupils last year because they wanted to improve the school's pass rate.

When Sowetan ran the story last year, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga instructed the Limpopo department to investigate.

The probe has still not been conducted and the pupils' careers hang in the balance. Instead, Motshekga's spokesman Panyaza Lesufi said: "... we are still waiting for a report from them."

Provincial education spokesman Pat Kgomo has failed to respond to Sowetan's enquiries on the investigations for two weeks.

The principal had allegedly told the pupils that their mid-year marks were not good enough for them to write the final matric exams.