Cape Town - Many parents in the province are worried their children might not get an education next year as their applications were unsuccessful.
From the beginning, there were concerns about access to the internet and whether many will be able to understand the application process.
Schools and individuals offered to assist parents to ease any difficulties with the application process, but there are parents that find themselves in limbo.
Adel Manqina said she applied for admission at six different schools and was unsuccessful at all of them.
“Shocked is an understatement. I applied on the 15th of March to six schools and after applying I then called all the schools to verify if I should bring any documents and they all said no all documents will only be required once the child has been accepted.”
She added that there was one school at which she knew she might not be accepted.
“I had a look at the criteria and it required the applicant to either live in close proximity to the school, or a parent works in the area and I couldn’t provide either.”
The province faced a high number of unplaced pupils this year, with civil organisations threatening to protest over this.
Carrie Paige, a Mitchell’s Plain mother, said she was worried about her 12-year-old daughter’s future after her four application attempts were all unsuccessful.
“My child is upset with this. She is being teased, she thinks she is not smart enough because all her peers were successful and are going into schools except her.”
Khayakazi Dyonasi said: ”Last year I was in the same situation and I ended up getting a school in Athlone. This year, I changed my home address and my application was successful.”
There are roughly three primary schools to each high school in the Western Cape, a problem that has been plaguing the province since 1994.
This means that one in three children may not be able to attend a public high school close to home – if at all.
ANC MPL Muhammad Khalid Sayed raised a motion during this week's sitting that the provincial legislature note with concern the extremely high number of pupils who have not been accepted at schools in the Western Cape for the 2023 academic year
“A number of parents applied timeously and correctly yet their children were rejected in all schools they applied to without being given any reasons for the rejection; notes further that this is an indication of the crisis we will deal with at the start of 2023; calls on WCED to provide parents with reasons as to why applications have been rejected without having to enquire further from the WCED or schools.”
He asked the house to accept that there are serious technical challenges with the online application system, as the technical glitches experienced earlier in the year resulted in many parents not being able to apply timeously
Education activist Vannesa le Roux said the issue is the lack of schools and that has been ignored by both parents and WCED.
“The WCED didn’t build schools, and this is a result of years of communities, organisations and parents ignoring this problem, because it didn’t affect them... It is a system that has been in crisis for years, and many ignored the crisis, now it [has] reached its boiling point.”
WCED spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said parents must understand that this is a process.
“We are still in the initial stages of this process. Understandably, those that were not successful during this initial phase are concerned; however, thousands of learners also were successful at more than one school, which means that thousands of places will be ‘freed up’ for learners in the next few weeks.”
She also said it must be noted that the WCED has no influence over the decisions made by school governing bodies (SGBs) in terms of their own individual admission processes and policies.
“The decisions are made by individual SGBs using the information provided on our web platform. The form used is the same for all public schools – therefore eliminating any discriminatory practices.
“Parents are advised to first speak to SGBs to establish reasons why the application was unsuccessful, stay in touch with the school and request that the learner is placed on a waiting list as some places could still open as parents confirm.”
If a parent wishes to appeal to the MEC for Education, then they may do so.