Johannesburg - Some Gauteng pupils are sitting at home as they are yet to be placed in school despite the fact that mid-year exams will start soon.
Lack of space and late registrations are said to be reasons why the children have been at home since January while their peers have been getting an education.
For Kobus Fourie, unemployment made him, his wife and two children leave Limpopo and go to Pretoria in the hope of finding employment.
However, that meant pulling his two children out of school in March. Upon arrival, he applied for schools in the north of Pretoria where they stay with his sister but were notn successful.
There was no school that had Grade 3 and 5 spaces for his children.
“We were told to go to schools physically to the schools and apply there, but have not been able to get in because of Covid-19. No one wants to let us in,” he said.
Cynthia Thunyiswa’s 14-year-old niece has also not attended school since January and sits at her Alexandra home reading all day.
Thunyiswa said her niece was in the Eastern Cape last year staying with her grandmother and came to Gauteng in December. Her mother applied for her but was told that it was too late and she must try again in January.
“In January, she applied but there has been no response. It was only yesterday (Tuesday), that her mother was called and told to go to the Norwood offices to get a reference number as she can’t be admitted to school without it.
“As things are, she is still at home and will go to the school chosen for her once her mother gets the reference number,” Thunyiswa said.
These, however, are not the only parents who are still waiting for their children to be placed. In one email IOL has seen, one desperate parent pleads with the Gauteng Department of Education to place her child, saying she does not have money for a private school.
Khume Ramulifho, DA Gauteng Shadow Minister of Education, said it was infuriating that some pupils had still not been allocated schools since the beginning of the year.
According to Ramulifho, the department tabled “a misleading report” claiming that all learners in Gauteng have been placed which he said they as the DA disputed as that was not the case.
“I have received many phone calls and messages from desperate, frustrated and angry parents and guardians whose children have not attended school since the start of the 2021 academic year.
“Many of these parents claim that they have applied on time, yet, their children have not been allocated schools. These parents cannot afford to send their children to private schools, resulting in their children sitting at home with no hope of whether they will ever attend school this year.
“These learners have already been impacted negatively by the Covid-19 pandemic and sitting at home is making things worse for them. During my visits to schools across the province, I have seen the adoption of the rotational system where learners only attend school twice a week, which is not enough for effective learning and teaching.
“A great injustice is being done, where learners are being deprived of their right to access basic education
Spokesperson for the Gauteng Department of Education, Steve Mabona, said the cases had been forwarded to the District office to assist.
“All circumstances are looked at, some parents had problems at independent schools and need space. We attend such cases as they visit schools and districts,” Mabona said.
IOL