The scramble for school placement has started again, and a Milnerton mother feels her hands are tied after a primary school rejected her son’s application, even though they live within the prescribed 5km radius of the school.
The mother, who wants to remain anonymous, has three children - one who graduated from Milnerton Primary School, another who is in the intermediate phase, and a child who is supposed to start Grade 1 next year.
She said she applied on March 10, but was told her son's application had been unsuccessful.
“I don't know what to do. We live close to the school and my other child is there,” she said.
The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) had told her she could appeal, she said.
WCED spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said the school governing board was responsible for school admissions, and pupils who had not been accepted to a school could contact their district office for assistance.
“Learners may apply to various schools (which we encourage), therefore one learner may be accepted at more than one school, or have his/her admission declined at more than one school.”
At the end of last month, the department said it had received 67 718 Grade 1 to 12 applications, and 27489 Grade R applications.
The department had introduced an online function to help parents track applications for admission to public schools.
The function allows a
parent or guardian to check via the WCED’s website if an application submitted to the school has been captured on the School Admissions Management Information system.
Parents can access the function on the WCED website by going to https://wcedonline.westerncape.gov.za/
Click on “How can I check the status of my child’s admission application?”.
Enter the pupil's ID or Cemis number, and click “submit”. https://wcedemis.westerncape.gov.za/wced/samiconf.html