7 000 pupils not in school in second week of term

AS THE second week of school draws to a close more than 7 000 pupils are still to be placed. Yesterday the Western Cape Education Department announced that officials had placed more than 10 000 pupils in schools, since the start of the new school year.

As this is a problem that the department is faced with annually, contingency plans should already be in place and numbers should not be so high, said Equal Education deputy general secretary Ntuthuzo Ndzomo.

“This is a common trend for Gauteng and the Western Cape. They must come up with a plan to deal with the excess number of pupils. “What we are worried about now is that they could miss up to a whole month of school, because, from our experience, this never gets resolved in the first few weeks. It affects pupils and teachers as well, because they have to make plans to make sure the pupil will catch up.”

The department has deployed 119 mobile classrooms capable of accommodating more than 4 000 pupils and each district has walk-in-centres that are managing admissions.

Education MEC Debbie Schäfer said while the department was under pressure to place the pupils, who represent up to 0.8 percent of pupil populations, they were confident that they would all be placed.

“I am however cognisant of the fact that late arrivals could still pose a challenge, in the event that more people come to the Western Cape. Often new residents will move into an area without planning in advance or without enrolling their children at a school.

“There is no way of knowing how many additional learners will require placement, the areas in which they will settle, or their ages and grades.

“We will need to, at short notice, find accommodation for these learners, as well as arrange the necessary resources they require,” Schäfer said.

Hot spots areas include Mitchells Plain, Tafelsig, Mandalay, Steenberg, Delft, Mfuleni, Athlone, Lwandle, Strand, Kuils River, Eerste River, Durbanville, Milnerton Corridor, Fish Hoek, Ocean View and Sun Valley.

“The department will, however, have a clearer idea of shifts in enrolment after the 10-day snap survey later in January.

“I must thank our officials, principals and teachers who have worked closely together to identify available places and to accommodate additional learners.

“Our officials have worked around the clock to get to this point, and will continue to do so until every learner is accommodated.” –