Cape Town - A total of 575 Grade 1 pupils and 3014 Grade 8 pupils have yet to be placed at schools for the year in the province, the Western Cape Education Department revealed.
The WCED confirmed they had managed to reduce the numbers in the past weeks after receiving 32 000 late applications.
The number of Grade 1 pupils had reduced from 600 to 575 and Grade eight from 3200 to 3014.
WCED spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said they were encouraging parents to apply if they had not done so.
“While the number of unplaced learners have reduced to 575 Grade one learners 3014 grade 8 learners, while we celebrate the reduction in numbers, we are also fighting a moving target and that every day we are receiving more late applications who did not apply in the allocated enrolment period,” she said.
“We will continue to assist all parents, and we ask for their patience. Parents who have not yet applied should contact our district office and fill out the forms, and it can be logged on our system.
“At the end of December 2021, there were approximately 600 grade one and 3200 grade eight’s who still had to be placed in the Western Cape.
“We have since made progress in reducing these figures further. Last year, we had approximately 13 000 grade one’s that had yet to be placed.”
Hammond said after the DBE’s announcement of the continuation of the rotation calendar for the school year, learners had to adhere to the 1 metre distance.
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga made the announcement yesterday.
Hammond said they were, however, advocating for the rotation to be amended with conditions in the province.
“Both primary and high schools need to adhere to the 1 metre rule (distance). This means that the majority of our schools still need to rotate and comply with the directive as they did last year,” she said.
“This will place a lot of pressure on teachers and parents. The schools are doing their best to see that learners have things to work on while they are on rotation. We are well aware this is not as effective as having them sitting in class, engaged and supervised.
“As a provincial department, we are advocating for changes to this rule under conditions.”
Motshekga said the unplaced learners had placed strain on teaching time and highlighted that Gauteng also had a backlog.
She said in her announcement: “The Department is aware that there are still learners who are yet to be placed in schools.
“At the moment, Gauteng is experiencing challenges in this regard, and we appeal to parents and guardians to cooperate with the District officials to resolve any matter. Traditionally, admissions take a year to process, but invariably, we find that due to a variety of reasons, admissions spill over into the ensuing year.
Delayed admissions impact on teaching and learning, as delays occur even where this should be avoided.
“We will continue to work with our provinces to ensure that we place all unplaced learners as a matter of urgency. We, however, implore parents and guardians to accept the schools in which their learners are placed.
“When schools have reached their maximum capacities, further admissions become impossible.”
Weekend Argus