Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi says the province is ready to kick off the 2017 school year‚ though not all its learners are placed.
By this week 229‚125 learners have been placed in Gauteng schools‚ while 82‚279 learners have not yet been placed. More than 10‚000 parents have not accepted the placements offered to them by the department.
“Some of the parents are taking time to confirm the offers of placement‚ thus creating a backlog in the system‚” Lesufi said on Wednesday‚ briefing the media on the department’s readiness for next year.
Parents have until Wednesday to confirm offers of placement or they will be given to other learners.
Lesufi urged these parents to respond.
This year the province had parents up in arms when it launched its online application system‚ which was initially riddled with technical glitches.
Lesufi said that despite complaints from parents‚ the provincial system has been successful in eradicating no-go schools‚ which only accepted learners from families who traditionally attended the school‚ and the cherry-picking of learners‚ based on their parents’ ability to pay fees.
Lesufi said online applications have now enabled the department to identify unplaced learners in December and deal with them early‚ instead of only dealing with this in January when the academic year begins.
Schools in certain areas have reached capacity and cannot take any more learners. These include schools in Boksburg‚ Kempton Park‚ Benoni‚ Tembisa‚ Krugersdorp‚ Lenasia‚ Midrand‚ Bryanston‚ Germiston‚ Florida and Pretoria East and North.
Lesufi said online applications would continue in 2017‚ with improvements made to the system from lessons learnt this year.
The department is also working to make changes to the province’s feeder zone policy after the Constitutional Court ordered that the current policy‚ which states a child must attend a school within a 5km radius of where he or she lives‚ has to go.
Lesufi said a task team has been looking at options for a new policy and that a workshop will be held with stakeholders early in 2017 to discuss these.
“[The new feeder zones] will finally break the backbone of the Group Areas Act. We are introducing a format to ensure our schools are non-racial.”
The department will continue to help township and semi-rural schools with meals for learners but may have to cut meals at more affluent schools in the suburbs.
Lesufi explained that affluent schools do not get funding for meals from national government but that the children of‚ for example‚ domestic workers who may attend these schools‚ are unable to afford lunch.
The department has made provision for these learners but is now in the red by R105-million.
“Withdrawing catering for those schools is high on the agenda‚” Lesufi said.
He said the department would do its best to find a solution‚ however.
More than 80‚000 learners still to be placed for 2017 in Gauteng
Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi says the province is ready to kick off the 2017 school year‚ though not all its learners are placed.
By this week 229‚125 learners have been placed in Gauteng schools‚ while 82‚279 learners have not yet been placed. More than 10‚000 parents have not accepted the placements offered to them by the department.
“Some of the parents are taking time to confirm the offers of placement‚ thus creating a backlog in the system‚” Lesufi said on Wednesday‚ briefing the media on the department’s readiness for next year.
Parents have until Wednesday to confirm offers of placement or they will be given to other learners.
Lesufi urged these parents to respond.
This year the province had parents up in arms when it launched its online application system‚ which was initially riddled with technical glitches.
Lesufi said that despite complaints from parents‚ the provincial system has been successful in eradicating no-go schools‚ which only accepted learners from families who traditionally attended the school‚ and the cherry-picking of learners‚ based on their parents’ ability to pay fees.
Lesufi said online applications have now enabled the department to identify unplaced learners in December and deal with them early‚ instead of only dealing with this in January when the academic year begins.
Schools in certain areas have reached capacity and cannot take any more learners. These include schools in Boksburg‚ Kempton Park‚ Benoni‚ Tembisa‚ Krugersdorp‚ Lenasia‚ Midrand‚ Bryanston‚ Germiston‚ Florida and Pretoria East and North.
Lesufi said online applications would continue in 2017‚ with improvements made to the system from lessons learnt this year.
The department is also working to make changes to the province’s feeder zone policy after the Constitutional Court ordered that the current policy‚ which states a child must attend a school within a 5km radius of where he or she lives‚ has to go.
Lesufi said a task team has been looking at options for a new policy and that a workshop will be held with stakeholders early in 2017 to discuss these.
“[The new feeder zones] will finally break the backbone of the Group Areas Act. We are introducing a format to ensure our schools are non-racial.”
The department will continue to help township and semi-rural schools with meals for learners but may have to cut meals at more affluent schools in the suburbs.
Lesufi explained that affluent schools do not get funding for meals from national government but that the children of‚ for example‚ domestic workers who may attend these schools‚ are unable to afford lunch.
The department has made provision for these learners but is now in the red by R105-million.
“Withdrawing catering for those schools is high on the agenda‚” Lesufi said.
He said the department would do its best to find a solution‚ however.
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