Landmark ruling on school admissions
THE Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) has, on October 3, welcomed the Constitutional Courts ruling on who has the final word on school admissions.
“We believe this decision is important in terms of ensuring that all Gauteng learners have equal access to quality schooling,” said the Education Department in a statement.
This decision ended a two year legal case between a Johannesburg primary school and the department with regards to the enrolment of learners by public schools even though they consider the school full, giving GDE ultimate control over the implementation of the admission decisions.
GDE further stated that it intended studying the judgement and implementing it in a fair manner.
On October 2 a frustrated Bassonia resident spoke of her struggle to find a school for her son, who is currently in Grade R, since the start of the 2014 School Admissions in May.
“My son is in Grade R this year and needs to start Grade 1 next year. I have applied at all schools in my area since the applications opened at almost all the private and public schools but have been turned down as they are already full,” said Luisa.
The department responded to her case saying that the departments mandate is to accommodate every learner in public schools. Currently, school admissions are closed and the schools are dealing with feedbacks to the parents. All parents whose children are not admitted should approach the district admission coordinators at their respective district to have them placed in the nearby schools.
Although Luisa has, unfortunately, not yet found a school willing to enrol her son, as both private and public schools in her area are reportedly full.
Equal Education on their website indicated, as per the Constitutional Courts ruling, that the Basic Education MEC has responsibility to place all children seeking public school access in a province, and it is thus both lawful and logical that the MEC should have a say in admissions policy.
However, government must act reasonably, and if it insists on the admission of children over and above the capacity as set by the SGB, then it must provide extra resources such as teachers and classrooms.
