Johannesburg - Uncertainty prevails among parents as to whether their children have been accepted into the school they applied for after the chaos with online registration on Monday.
Frustrated parents managed to complete their applications in the afternoon, but many were not sure of the outcome.
Maria Stone said she like many parents took the day off to apply. She eventually succeeded in completing and submitting the application form.
“But I don’t know what is next. We have to wait until June to hear. My oldest son has been in the school we applied for since Grade 1, but now we have to wait and see if his younger brother will be admitted,” she said.
She lives in Lonehill, but in the online application, she was offered a school in the southern suburbs.
“It’s crazy,” she said.
“How can I go from one school in the north to drop off one son then drive across town to the south to drop the other?”
According to the Gauteng Department of Education, more than 5 035 parents managed to register in the first 10 minutes of going live at 2.30pm on Monday.
There were more than 20 000 parents per second trying to register and apply. As a result, the department announced it was no longer a first-come, first-served basis and that it was reverting to waiting lists A and B. And as if that was not enough trouble for the department and MEC Panyaza Lesufi, they now face legal action over the system, which could not go live at 10am on Monday as expected.
The Federation of Governing Bodies of South African Schools (Fedsas), a voluntary association of governing bodies of public schools, will take legal steps to prevent what it has called abuse of the e-platform for school admissions.
Lobby group AfriForum said it supported Fedsas’s bid as it was swamped with queries from frustrated parents.
Lesufi said: “I am quite aware there are people who want to take me to court purely because the system is not functional and that their privilege will be compromised.”
But lateon Monday, he said the online school system was now live and functional.
The closing date for applications is June 1 and parents can expect confirmation of a place for their child on June 24 and 25.
The Star