30 000 pupils still need places

Online application system much better, but not perfect yet.

Millions of pupils go back to school on Wednesday, but despite improvements in the computerised enrolment system in Gauteng, more than 30 000 pupils are still unsure of their places.

The Gauteng department of education introduced an online application system in 2015 for Grade 1 and Grade 8 pupils to apply through the internet. This application system was aimed at creating a fair chance for all parents to be able to enrol their children into schools without queuing.

While the system has improved over the years, parents have been facing problems when trying to apply through the system. This has resulted in a large number of pupils not being enrolled in schools by the time the academic year starts.

In 2016, the online application system crashed after receiving more than 6 000 applications per second, resulting in parents turning to the district educational offices for assistance ... with no success.

Due to the system being unable to cope with the large amount of traffic, 19 000 pupils were not placed in schools at the beginning of the 2017 academic year.

Although the Federation of Governing Bodies of South African Schools (Fedsas) CEO Paul Colditz says that the online application system is ideal for the future, it has a few hiccups that need to be cleared up.

“It should offer parents a choice with regard to specific schools, for example your specialised schools,” Colditz says.

DA shadow MEC of education Khume Ramulifho offers another solution to the hiccups in the system: “What they should do is that when they see that a particular school has a huge number of requests, they need to look around and see how many schools are in close proximity of that one.

“If those schools are not full, the department should either buy mobile classes or ask the principal and SGB to put more classrooms in that school because of the high demand.”

Towards the end of last year, the department received more than 20 000 late online applications.

GDE spokesperson Steve Mabona said those applying would be assisted, but he urged parents to accept the placements given to them by government in circumstances where their preferences are unattainable.

However, many parents refused these placements.

“Parents are voting with their feet,” Colditz says.

“They’re looking for the best quality of education for their children – which they’re entitled to – and in many instances parents regard these schools as not good enough for their children.”

This week walk-ins are expected as grade 1 and 8 pupils still do not have placements in schools for the academic year.

Provincial Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi said in a statement that more than 30 000 pupils have not found placements and that efforts will be made to ensure their placement by Wednesday when schools open. Despite this assurance, EFF Gauteng secretary Malesela Ledwaba is not convinced.

With regards to instances where some parents do not have access to the online systems and end up applying late, he’s expecting the same challenges of the previous years to occur.