Mthatha academic and businessman, Dr Andile Nontso, has shared valuable advice on things that parents, teachers, and learners can use to ensure a stress-free school year, following the start of the new school calendar year, as schools in coastal provinces opened on January 19.
Nontso holds a doctorate of philosophy (PhD) in education from Walter Sisulu University, which he obtained in May 2020.
His thesis for the doctoral degree focused on the effects of principals’ workloads on academic performance in Grade 12 learners in three education districts in the Eastern Cape.
Nontso cautioned parents against unregistered private schools and those that do not offer mathematics, despite their exorbitant fees.
“Parents must be very careful with private schooling, as many private schools do not have enough learners doing mathematics, physical sciences and biology or life sciences.
“Parents must do their own research and be vigilant when sending their children to private schools, as some only offer mathematics literacy instead of pure mathematics,” cautioned Nontso.
He also advised parents whose children would be going to tertiary institutions to insist on seeing the registration licence of a private institution, saying this would help parents to avoid losing money to an illegal institution and their children coming back with a certificate they cannot use because the institution hadnot been registered with the Department of Higher Education and Training.
“Pay fees directly to the school and do not give money for school fees to your child and make sure that you personally collect your child’s quarterly school report at the school where they are studying.
“Parents have lost monies by giving the school fees to their children to pay at their school only to find that the money was never paid to the school,” he cautioned.
Turning his attention to those who would be going to study at tertiary institutions, Nontso advises them against choosing academic courses due to peer pressure from friends but rather choose courses that will make them employable, or self-employed.
He also cautioned young girls against drug and alcohol abuse saying these make them vulnerable to HIV/Aids infection, pregnancy and even getting infected with COVID-19.
