Row erupts in race to place pupils in schools

AN INANDA woman is in a race against time to find a school for her daughter, who should have begun Grade 8 when schools opened.

Despite the woman and other parents having registered their children early, her daughter, 12, was not admitted at Ohlange High School in Inanda because the principal said there was no space left.

It now transpires that the school required prospective pupils to write an admission test during the holidays, but the parents say their children had already gone away for the holidays and did not write it.

“The principal waited five months to tell us there would be an interview, something he should have announced when the registration forms were returned,” the woman said.

She said she had another child at the school who had not written a test to be granted admission.

“The principal said there is no space and the only space available is for boarders, but I am not going to allow my child to board when we live near the school,” she said.

The woman said sending her child to a school out of Inanda would cost her at least R400 a month for transport. She had become so desperate she would rather her child repeated Grade 7.

“Monday was the last day we could get our children into the school. We waited in the school library until the principal chased us out. He said we should go to our

Some schools accept pupils based on results, others want to know the pupil’s written skills Kwazi Mthethwa Department of Education spokesperson

councillors and the Department of Education and ask them to provide portable classrooms and extra teachers. However, even though the principal said there is no space, there are children who have been accepted who also did not write the test,” she said.

Department of Education spokesperson Kwazi Mthethwa said if there was no space at the school, the parent should go to the circuit manager for assistance. He said each school had different policies concerning the placement.

“Some schools accept pupils based on results, others want to know the pupil’s written skills.”

A source within the school said they had anticipated 200 pupils, but received over 400, prompting the decision to conduct an assessment during orientation.

“Spaces are limited and we also had to consider pupils who had to repeat the grade,” he said.

The man said if parents escalated the situation to the department, they could be provided with mobile classrooms and teachers.

“If this is so, we could take all those on the waiting list,” he said.