Police had to be called in to restore calm when parents and education department officials clashed in Ga-Rankuwa on Wednesday.

Disgruntled parents at the local district offices demanded that all their children are placed or otherwise “no officials would be allowed to leave”.

Some of the parents said the online system should be scrapped because it was not working.

While some were complaining that their children were placed in schools that are very far from where they stay, others claimed their children were not placed at all.

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One of the parents, who resides in Soshanguve, Lerato Mabalawa, said her child was starting grade 8 and he was placed in Mabopane despite them living in Soshanguve.

“We stay in Soshanguve, which means I have to give him taxi fare every day. Where will I get that money because I’m not employed?” said Mabalawa.

“The best solution for me is for them to place him in Soshanguve East. Or they should place him in a school that provides learners with a bus because I will not be able to afford to pay for transport.”

Another parent, who did not want to be named, said her child was placed in a school that is 20km away, while there’s a school that is only 1km away from her house.

“I live in Pretoria North and she has now been placed in Kameeldrift. My child is six years old and I will not allow this.”

The parents vowed that they would not leave until their children were assisted.

On Tuesday, Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga admitted that there were still learners who needed to be placed in schools.

“At the moment, Gauteng is experiencing challenges in this regard. We appeal to parents and guardians to co-operate with the district officials to resolve the matter,” she said.

Motshekga said this as she briefed the media on the reopening of schools.

She further said that while admissions traditionally took a year to process, admissions sometimes spilt over into the next year due to a variety of reasons.

“Delayed admissions impact teaching and learning. We will continue to work with our provinces to ensure that we place all unplaced learners as a matter of urgency,” she said.

Motshekga also implored parents and guardians to accept the schools at which their children were placed.

“When schools have reached their maximum capacities, further admissions become impossible,” she said.