Cape Town - Formal schooling will begin at the vacant Dunoon school that was invaded by residents and pupils who demanded education last month.
The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) has confirmed schooling would begin in the temporary structures this week.
The children have been taught by residents and parents in the area since occupying the school in July.
The classrooms had been vacant after Sophakama Primary moved to permanent structures.
Parents had claimed that the two primary schools in the area were full, which prompted them to occupy the vacant buildings.
Soon after, classes were conducted by unemployed teachers who volunteered their services.
The group initially claimed that there were 380 children in the area who had not been placed in schools but the WCED disputed this.
Jessica Shelver, the spokeswoman for the MEC of Education, Debbie Schäfer, said the department had invited the parents to register their children and 119 children of compulsory school-going age were registered.
She said that 58.8 percent were new arrivals from the Eastern Cape (70 of 119). “Many of the remainder (41.2 percent , 49 of 119), dropped out after failing, while others were never enrolled in a school.”
She added 113 of the pupils would be accommodated at the mobile school from next week, under the management of Sophakama Primary. Desks, chairs and learning materials would be delivered to the site from Monday.
She said the department had allocated additional teaching posts to Sophakama Primary.
Teachers were expected to be appointed from next week.
Catch-up programmes for all the children would be arranged.
The department planned to continue using the mobile classrooms at the Dunoon site next year and had asked the city council for an extension of the lease.
“Due to the expected increase in numbers for the 2016 academic year, the mobile classrooms at Dunoon will be commissioned to accommodate the increase, and will incorporate the current learners.”
Parent, Nokubonga Tukani, who previously told the Cape Argus that she had been unable to find places in local schools for her children aged seven and 12, said that while parents were happy with the department’s solution, they wanted the volunteer teachers who had been teaching their children for the past few weeks to continue doing so.
Shelver said the department had to follow “due process” in the appointment of teachers.
Cape Argus