Cape Town - Every pupil affected by the possible closure of 27 Western Cape schools will be taken care of, the provincial education department said on Tuesday.
“The aim is to improve opportunities for the learners concerned. We would like to place these learners in schools that are better equipped to provide a quality education,” said education head Penny Vinjevold.
She said the department had prepared a proposed pupil placement plan, but this did not mean that education MEC Donald Grant had already made up his mind.
The proposed placements were a work in progress and were compiled to reassure parents that the department had done its research.
Any person, community, organisation or civil movement could offer their input at public hearings to be held from August 18 to September 3.
Grant was expected to make a final decision by the end of September.
The department recently announced it might close 27 schools because of dwindling pupil numbers, crumbling infrastructure or academic under-performance.
Twenty of these schools were in rural districts and the rest were in the greater Cape Town area.
The proposal was met with opposition from various communities, the African National Congress and Congress of SA Trade Unions.
Vinjevold said parents should not worry about their children being placed in a school they could not afford.
“We've tried to match no-fee schools with no-fee schools,” she said.
In instances where a child was placed in a school with fees, an exemption policy would apply. - Sapa