Swakopmund parents vote to end Afrikaans matric at Pro-Ed

Parents at Pro-Ed Akademie in Swakopmund have voted to replace the school's IEB International Secondary Certificate (ISC) curriculum with the Namibian NSSC, which would end Afrikaans-medium instruction for Grade 12.

One group of parents is now challenging as unconstitutional.

Pro-Ed is one of six Namibian private schools offering the ISC, according to the school's correspondence to parents. Recognition of the qualification, which the Namibia Qualifications Authority does not recognise, is before the courts after a 9 March ministry directive required schools offering it to register Grade 12 learners with recognised examining bodies. According to a 21 April Pro-Ed letter to parents, the ISC is available in Afrikaans and English, while both alternatives put to the vote are available in English only.

In the vote of 6 July, the NSSC received 161 of the 338 votes cast (47.6%), against 110 (32.5%) for the ISC and 67 (19.8%) for Cambridge International, according to the governing body's announcement, which said the process "went smoothly" and all votes were "properly verified".

Swakopmund lawyer Danie Kotzé, acting for four parents, sent the governing body a letter of demand on 10 July, alleging that the curriculum vote, a board election of 8 April and a constitutional amendment adopted at the same meeting all breached the constitution of the Pro-Ed Akademie Ouervereniging (PEAOV), the parents' association that owns the school.

In written answers to this publication last Thursday, Kotzé said the 6 July gathering "was not, in fact, a properly constituted SGM; it was purely a voting procedure", and that a decision of this kind required a 75% majority.

"Changing the curriculum in this way would mean the school could no longer provide education in both Afrikaans and English, as its constitution currently requires. That would itself require a constitutional amendment before any change to the curriculum could properly take place," he argued.

The board, through its attorneys Kinghorn Associates Inc., rejected the demands as "legally unsustainable" but proposed a fresh special general meeting to re-table the disputed election, amendment and curriculum result, without admitting any allegation. Its position, per director Hendriaan Visser, is that the vote stands until revoked by a further meeting or set aside by a court, and that it is legally unresolved whether an amendment is required at all.

No court papers have been filed.

"We have not filed an application yet, as we want to resolve this in an amicable fashion that does Pro-Ed as little harm as possible. But, if need be, we shall file," Kotzé said.

He said three governing body members have resigned since the April election, which the board had not confirmed this by the time of publication.

The demand letter claimed five days' notice and no newspaper publication for the 6 July meeting. This newspaper confirmed a notice ran in Republikein on 22 June, stating the place, date and time, but no agenda.

On the April election, the parents allege a nominated teacher was pressured to withdraw. The board says she withdrew voluntarily, while maintaining "that it would be both improper and impractical for a teacher to serve on the GB". The teacher declined to comment.

In a letter to parents on 15 July, the board said no curriculum change has been implemented and "the curriculum question concerns Grades 10 to 12 only, and in essence is about the certificate with which a learner leaves the school". Both sides remain in correspondence.

Selma Ngola of the education ministry said its official response was still awaiting the executive director's signature, but that the matter is now with the attorney general and it could not comment further.

The school's principals referred queries to chairperson Stiaan Cloete, on whose behalf the board's attorneys responded.

This publication reported in April that parents had begun seeking placements at other schools, with the school acknowledging withdrawals. The board itself cautioned Grade 10 to 12 parents against changing schools mid-stream, citing subject and language differences between the curricula. Universities South Africa recommended in April that public universities continue admitting ISC holders under senate discretionary exemption "until further regulatory clarification is provided".

The qualification's standing in Namibia awaits the court's outcome.