Johannesburg - Gauteng parents have just a few days left to enrol their children at schools for next year, Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi has warned.
“If you don't register your child at a school by the end of November, you will have failed them and will only have yourself to blame.
“There won't be place for some pupils who just rock up at the beginning of the school year,” said Lesufi, speaking at a briefing on Tuesday on the department's readiness for the upcoming academic year, as well as the current state of education in the province.
The MEC said parents had been given ample time to enrol their children at schools and that only those pupils under certain circumstances would be accepted for enrolment next year.
He explained this included pupils whose parents migrated to the province for work and other reasons. This means pupils could get spaces at any school that could have them and not necessarily at schools of their first choice.
Although just about two weeks remains for pupils to be enrolled, the department is ready for the 2016 academic year, he said.
“We are officially declaring that Gauteng schools are full,” said Lesufi.
He said the reason pupils need to be enrolled at this stage was for the department to find the finances to accommodate them in regard to classroom space, teachers and furniture.
He said that if this was not done accordingly, some pupils would not be placed and would be unable to attend school.
Lesufi said that so far, about 95 percent of Grade 1s have been placed for next year, while 94 percent of Grade 8s have been placed for high schools around the province.
Overall, more than 2 million pupils have been enrolled in Gauteng and over 79 000 teachers have been recorded.
Lesufi said rapid migration had resulted in about 90 000 pupils from other provinces being enrolled in ordinary schools in Gauteng.
The high number of pupils in Gauteng meant that the department had to construct 21 new schools, of which four would be opened in January.
The new schools would be opened in Daveyton, Soweto and Tshwane.
Reflecting on the 2015 academic year, Lesufi said the department had worked tirelessly to ensure everything ran smoothly.
This meant confronting the 304 disciplinary cases against educators and included issues of corporal punishment, financial mismanagement and sexual assault.
The department also dealt with 448 disciplinary cases involving pupils, with most of them involving substance abuse and bullying. Despite the challenges, Lesufi said he was satisfied with the 2015 academic year. His highlight was delivering tablets to matric pupils in the province.
He said they were working towards more pupils gaining access to technological devices in the classroom.
“This is the first time in South Africa's history that our kids are not learning by imagination but by actually seeing,” he said.
@Karishma_Dipa
The Star
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