She said the department had received 131 000 applications for Grade 1 and 114 546 for Grade 8 for the 2014 intake.
“The majority of these learners have been placed in schools, including the 24 new schools which will be opening in January 2014 to deal with the increased demand for learning spaces. A further four schools will be opened in April,” she added.
Creecy said the department established admission centres in 15 districts and head office admission centres to facilitate placement of pupils and speedily resolve admission queries and referrals.
About 600 queries have since been processed.
Creecy’s office received 48 appeals in relation to admission placements, 47 of which have been attended to.
“We urge parents who still have queries about the placement of their children to visit the district offices for assistance rather than going direct to the schools,” she added.
The MEC confirmed that all of the province’s schools had placed textbook orders while delivery and top-up orders were monitored for schools that needed assistance to purchase the new Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement textbooks for Grades 7, 8, 9 and 12.
She said all the schools were fully functional and had access to resources.
Meanwhile, Creecy expressed satisfaction in the Schools’ Safety Programme.
“It has been extra successful. We’ve seen a reduction in school burglaries since the introduction of this programme,” she added.
