Lim Edu Dept on track for return to school on January 15

POLOKWANE – The 2025 academic year in Limpopo begins on January 15 after a four-week long festive holiday.

The Limpopo Department of Education says it is prepared to accommodate new and returning learners at various schools across the province.

While learner placement is often chaotic with overpopulation and last minute registrations during the first term, the department says it encouraged parents to apply and register on time between August 1 and October 31, 2024.

It has emphasised that learners would be allocated to schools based on feeder areas and not parent or guardian preference.

It is amidst a generational action in which parents or guardians only apply for government schools they prefer, rather than for a school allocation.

The geographical area from which a school accepts its core students is a feeder area or zone. Feeder zones are used to control the number of learners at a school and to coordinate parental preferences.

Meanwhile, the department warns that no public school may require a child to write an admission test, or prevent them from schooling to due to unpaid fees.

During this period, the Polokwane Review-Observer receives tip-offs yearly about parents who have been asked by officials to pay in order for their child to be registered, marked as corruption by the department.

Although a school cannot refuse a learner admission, they can take legal action against you for failure to pay any outstanding school fees.

Parents are encouraged to apply or register their children a year before their schooling year.

To register the following documents are compulsory:

– Application form from the school
– Official birth certificate
– Immunisation card

If you are moving your child from one school to another, submit their latest school report and a transfer card.

If your child is not a South African citizen, include a study permit, a permanent residence permit or proof that you have applied for permission to stay in South Africa.