Scramble to place 30 000 pupils in class
There will be a massive delay in learner placement.
MORE than 30 000 Grade 1 and Grade 8 Gauteng pupils are still to secure school places with the start of the 2018 academic year just over a week away.
Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi has therefore called on parents who have not yet applied for space in schools to look elsewhere.
Lesufi yesterday said there was immense pressure on the Gauteng education system, and parents of migrating pupils should, if they can, consider registering their children in other provinces.
Lesufi said that so far the department had still not placed 31 056 learners in grades 1 and 8 for the 2018 academic year, which starts next week.
He said: “If you have an alternative, use it. There is going to be a massive delay in the placement of learners and it will be a risk to bring your child to Gauteng.”
Lesufi said parents who applied on time would be given priority.
He said that of the 31 000 learners who still need to be placed, 17 000 were those who applied on time but hadn’t found space.
“Unfortunately, they have applied in high-pressure areas where there is a shortage of space. It should also be noted that many of these parents declined alternative offers of placement.”
Lesufi promised that these learners would be placed before schools reopen. To ensure this, parents who have applied but are yet to be placed are encouraged to visit admission centres on Saturday and Sunday (January 13 and 14).
He added that because of financial constraints, the department would have to ask the provincial Treasury Department to assist.
Lesufi said admissions were not the only problem the department was facing ahead of schools reopening. He said it was racing against time to fix about 30 schools damaged by recent storms. Most of the damaged schools are in Mogale City, Ekurhuleni and Joburg south.
“We have conducted an audit of these schools and they will be repaired in due course. The estimated cost of repairing the schools is R140 million.”
Head of department Edward Mosuwe denied reports that the retrenchment of teachers was on the cards.
He said that what the department planned on doing, instead, was keeping teachers at their schools until the “10-day headcount” was completed before making any changes.
“We have sought to ensure all schools have their teachers, but after the 10-day headcount we will be able to determine the number of learners in each school.
“Where school enrolments have gone down, we will have to take that teacher and redeploy him or her where learner numbers have gone up,” Mosuwe said.