Cape Town — Despite efforts by the Gauteng Department of Education to utilise the online admissions system, over 21 000 pupils will not have a desk at school when the schools reopen on Wednesday for 2024.
In December last year, the department announced that it would be opening late applications for grade 1 and grade 8 pupils from 18 December 2023 to 31 January 2024, ahead of the 2024 academic year, in an effort to give parents an opportunity to place their child in a school.
As a result of the late applications, this has led to parents feeling disgruntled over the “dysfunctional online admissions system”, Parents queued outside district offices in an attempt to get their child registered, eNCA reported.
Many of these parents are desperate to secure a spot for their children in a classroom this year, predominantly for grade 1 and grade 8. Video footage showed long queues of parents in a business park, standing in the rain, trying to get their children registered, with reports of violence in the days prior, with parents saying schools that there children were admitted to, is too far for parents to afford the high transport costs.
With just one day to go until the start of the school year, it remains to be seen whether parents will be able to get their children registered.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
