Tension is fast reaching boiling point between the school development committee (SDC) of Cold Comfort Junior School and management of Herentals College who have taken over the school in Tynwald and turned it into a private institution.
Angry parents who have been fighting running battles with the private college thronged the school Monday and vowed to withdraw their children as they were not happy with the new conditions that had been set up by Herentals College management.
They said they had not been notified that Cold Comfort Junior, formerly a farm school, had been taken over by Herentals College and new fees were too exorbitant considering that most parents were low-income earners.
“We were shocked on May 10 when Herentals College came in and demanded that we leave because they had taken over the school,” said one irate parent who chose to speak on condition of anonymity.
“They chased school children and teachers and said those who wanted to be enrolled should pay $140 per term as compared to $50 per term that we used to pay,” one parent said.
The parents also alleged that the Herentals College administration deployed marshals to deal with any form of resistance.
The vice-president of the SDC, Oliver Chiyangwa, said the problem started two weeks ago.
“The SDC has been managing the farm school since 2002 and we were shocked to hear that Herentals College bought the school without the parents being consulted. The parents built two blocks and two houses for the caretaker and the bursar as well as mounting water tanks and furnishing the school,” Chiyangwa said. He said they had withdrawn all the pupils while they waited for the matter to be resolved by the courts.
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“Herentals only has 50 school children enrolled since they took over, but the affected children from Cold Comfort Junior School totalled 734. They also do not have letters to show that they are a registered college,” Chiyangwa said.
Authorities from Herentals College yesterday said they could not comment on the matter as it was now before the courts.
They however said they had given parents the green light to let their children attend classes, until the matter was solved.
