South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) in the Western Cape says it believes that the number of unplaced learners in the province is higher than the figure quoted by the provincial Education Department.
It also disputes that late applications alone are the reason for the high number of learners who have not yet been registered at schools. About 1.2 million learners in the province are expected back in the classroom on Wednesday.
Provincial education authorities say late applications for admissions in the Western Cape may result in delays in learner placement. It says it has so far placed over 117 000 grade ones and eights, with some 950 still being processed. This they say translates to under 1% of the grade one and eight applications.
“We are in the process of placing 955 or 0.8 % of the grade one and grade eight learners for the 2023 school year. This is an incredible achievement compared to recent years with our officials and schools having placed 50 844 more grade one and eight learners than on this date last year. We are in the best possible position to kick off the school year given, the high demand for placement. Our officials and schools have done a phenomenal job under extreme pressure to ensure they find a place for every child,” says David Maynier the Western Cape Education MEC.
The department says it’s received over 25 000 late applications for grade one and eight this year. This includes over 270 extremely late applications received after schools closed on 15 December last year.
Online registration process
But Sadtu says late applications alone are not at the root of the issue of unplaced learners at the start of the school year. It says the province needs to have more schools built and an improvement in the online registration process.
“We are aware of parents, even some of our own colleagues who applied when the online applications were opened, who were not placed last year. So it’s a myth that only late applications are unplaced,” says Sibongile Kwazi, the SADTU Western Cape acting secretary.
The union says the delay in learner placement at the start of the academic year places unnecessary strain on teachers and learners.
“This will put a lot of pressure on teachers because how do you start teaching when there are a lot of parents outside the school who are clamouring to get their kids into the school? So it disturbs the tone of the schools right at the beginning of the school year. And lastly it also means that those learners will be introduced into schools, they won’t be able to access schools on the first day. We are saying every learner should start learning on the first day,” Kwazi adds.
The department says it has completed some 561 additional classrooms at a number of schools across the province in time for the first day of school. They’ve appealed to parents who have not yet applied for placement not to queue outside schools but to contact the education district office which is assisting with placements centrally.
VIDEO: Back-To-School – Over 600 Western Cape learners still to be placed
