By Nontobeko Mtshali
The principal of Berea Primary School, Sheila Nankoo, is facing serious allegations.
These include buying school supplies at inflated prices from preferred suppliers without consulting fellow school management members and barring teachers from using the school’s computers or phones while they are expected to submit typed question papers and call parents if something happens to their children at school.
School governing body (SGB) members and staffers say they are unhappy with Nankoo’s autocratic management style. They complain that their concerns have fallen on deaf ears, including those of the district education office or the Gauteng Department of Education, which have ignored their pleas for intervention.
Nankoo was also accused of handling the approval and rejections of school fee exemptions unilaterally, without allowing the SGB to peruse the applications as required.
In February, a bid for Nankoo’s removal was thwarted when the department promised to deal with the matter urgently.
“We were told they would prioritise this and intervene immediately. They appointed a legal firm… promising it would take about two months,” said an SGB member.
Nankoo declined to comment and referred The Star to department spokesman Gershwin Chuenyane, who said an extensive investigation was still under way.
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