31 000 GP pupils still looking for placement

Day 1 blues await

The first day of schooling in Gauteng is expected to be marred by glitches. Some schools damaged by recent storms, or vandalised during the holidays, need to be fixed.

There are also about 31 000 pupils who have not been placed and are at risk of registration challenges.

Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi said yesterday the estimated cost of repairing the damage was R140-million.

“There will be a few schools that might not be purely ready on the first day of school on Wednesday next week because we have this problem of responding to the storm-damaged schools.

“We are fast tracking that process so that these schools can be available and utilised as soon as possible. We have asked the head of department [HoD] to move so that these schools can be ready. We have approached the provincial treasury and provincial disaster fund to assist us,” Lesufi said.

Lesufi also said another mega township school, Everest Primary School in Westbury, will be opened on the first day of school.

“That will take us to 49 schools we have built since we came to office in 2013.

“This school was built of asbestos and we had to build a new one to eliminate a number of asbestos schools we have in the province.”

Lesufi urged parents who have not registered their children in Gauteng to utilise alternative means, if they can.