DA wants fast-tracking of allocation of unplaced 1 004 learners
The Department of Education said it was concluding with the admissions, it has attributed major snags to the process to be due to some parents having outstanding documents while some preferred certain schools for their children which were now full.
While millions of learners headed back to school on Monday, about 1 004 learners had to sit at home while the Gauteng education department finalised placement processes.
The Gauteng DA raised concerns over the unplaced grades 1 and 8 learners who applied for placement and called for the fast-tracking of the process.
DA Gauteng education spokesperson Khume Ramulifho said MEC Panyaza Lesufi needed to ensure placement of the learners by the end of this week.
“As long as they are not yet placed, they will continue to miss out while other learners are progressing with the curriculum,” she said.
“The DA has been inundated with phone calls and messages from desperate and frustrated parents who applied on time, yet their children have not been allocated to schools. This includes learners who are placed far from their place of residence or where their parents work.”
Ramulifho claimed that online admission posed challenges for parents to choose the “best” schools for their children.
“The DA will call for the review of this process to ensure that parental choice is protected. By not placing learners on time, the department is depriving these learners of their right to basic education which is enshrined in the constitution.”
In response, education spokesperson Steve Mabona said the department was in the process of placing all the learners and the national government would give an update on the progress this week.
“It is encouraging that the department has made progress in the placement of learners. A total of 221 271 (grade 1: 104 981 and grade 8: 116 290) applicants have been placed. We are working tirelessly to place the remaining 1 004 (0.45%) applicants,” Lesufi was quoted having said.
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During the provincial command council briefing held last week, Lesufi said one of the major snags to the process was that parents preferred certain schools over the others. While the majority of the preferred schools were now full “to the brim we cannot even add additional desks”.
“We are pleading with parents to go for the alternative schools that they have been given so that we can have the children back at school.”
Lesufi also said the department was facing challenges in placing the learners as about 33 000 parents failed to submit important documents for the registration.
Gauteng education reported that some parents visited the Tshwane West district office and Akasia Primary School on Monday, to highlight their frustration with the admissions process.
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