Teachers’ unions say they will closely monitor the process of placing learners in the Western Cape.
This as the provincial Education Department says just over 600 Grade 1 and 8 learners still need to be placed in schools in the province.
Coastal schools are due to open for the academic year next week.
Basil Manuel, the Executive Director of the National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa, says they are confident that all coastal schools will be ready to open.
“There are many residual problems that still plague our schools, like the placement of learners, like the fact that so many learners are moving towards either the Western Cape or Gauteng, placing great pressure on the systems there. However, we call upon the department to speed up its processes, and what we will be watching out for in the Western Cape is that there are no learners languishing at home months after schools have opened.”
Over 600 Western Cape learners still to be placed
Meanwhile, Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane has assured parents that all learners will be placed.
Chiloane said over 1 300 Grade1 and 8 learners who had applied online had not yet been placed. However, plans are in the works to procure additional mobile classes and learning spaces, to ensure that no learners are left out.
The incident allegedly sparked clashes between black and white parents.
A parent who was turned away at the school expressed his frustrations.
“I can tell you now that this [has] got to a way that it escalated to racism. We were told that this is not your school, you must go build your own school. They gave us a bogus court order. We [are] not satisfied with the response because [we were] not even given an opportunity to speak to the principal directly.”
Basic Education’s readiness for the 2023 academic year:
