Police close down bogus schools, arrest owners

Mpumalanga police and the department of education have closed down two bogus schools during a raid today.

The schools – Intercity College in Rocky’s Drift near White River and Tactics Christian College in Mkhuhlu – were not registered with the provincial department as required by the South African Schools Act.

The police are busy ploughing through documents to ascertain full information about the schools.

Owners of the two schools have been arrested, but police spokesperson Colonel Leonard Hlathi was not immediately available to give more information about the arrests and the charges.

Mpumalanga education spokesperson Gerald Sambo said that the department would be meeting the children’s parents on Monday to discuss their future.

“A meeting has been scheduled. We’ve been warning parents that they should check with the department if schools are registered before enrolling their children,” Sambo said.

Intercity College’s website boasts that the school achieved a 100% matric pass rate in 2011 and that Christian values are the foundation of education in the school. It had classes from Grade 1 to Grade 12 and the costs per child ranged from R21 000 to R27 000 a year.

Sambo, however, said that the school’s website contained lies.

“Those are lies to lure parents to register their children. For any school to have matric students sitting for exams, it should be registered with the department as an exam centre. That applies even to public schools,” he said.

A woman who answered a cellphone number found on Intercity College’s website and only identified herself as the “director” declined to comment.

“We’re not prepared to give out any information at the moment, sir,” she said.

Tactics Christian College does not have a website. Sambo said the school had Grade 1 to Grade 11 classes.