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The Eastern Cape Department of Education says its illegal for parents to close schools.
The Department's chief director of communication, Phila Nqumba, was speaking after receiving a memorandum of grievances from an estimated 2000 parents and learners in Uitenhage on Wednesday who marched to the Department's office in the town.
This week school governing bodies closed 16 schools in Uitenhage West in protest against the lack of teachers and the non-payment of temporary teachers.
Nqumba said the Education Department is aware of the issues raised in the memorandum.
"We accept the fact that education is a societal matter and we appreciate it and know the issues that are raised in the memorandum. We are busy as the Department of Education attending to these issues," he said.
Nqumba said the issues in contained in the memorandum are "national issues and not issues that we can resolve here and now and we will continue as the Department of Education to find a solution."
He however cautioned that it was "illegal" for parents or anyone else to close schools, as had been done by school governing bodies in Uitenhage. Nqumba appealed to "our leaders around here not to close schools."
Meanwhile, the Grahamstown-based Legal Resources Centre said its busy negotiating a settlement with the Department of Education to appoint teachers to posts at 17 schools in the province.
LRC director, Sarah Sephton, said those teachers had been identified as being suitable for the vacant posts at those schools but had not been appointed.
She told Algoa FM News that "the proposed settlement was for the immediate appointment of these teachers and a task team set up to address the needs of all the schools in the province which will ensure that posts are filled as a matter of urgency."
Sephton also met school governing bodies in Port Elizabeth's Northern Areas Wednesday afternoon where the proposed settlement would be presented to them.
"The message I'm bringing to the SGB's is work with us, we'll help to ensure that your posts are filled as a matter of urgency working with the Department of Education."
