Parental determination pays off

15 April, 8:00 am

Campers made use of gazebos, blankets, bonfires and braais to keep warm. The school opened its doors for admissions at 2am on the morning of 15 April. By 8am on the same day most parents had been successful in registering their children or had them put on waiting lists. The school provided coffee, tea and sandwiches for the bleary-eyed parents who expressed their gratitude.

“I’m so happy,” Katie Ncube said. “They [Fourways High] were so good to us. They gave us tea and food and the queue was so quick.”

She said people who lived in the Fourways area were prioritised in the queue.

Rivonia resident, Bridget Enslin said the mood in the queue was actually quite festive and that the queuing process was organised and efficient. Her daughter was not admitted, but was on the waiting list. Enslin explained that her daughter wanted to attend the school because of its good reputation and academic standard as well as its sports programme.

Wilgeheuwel resident, Ivor Chetty queued at another school and was able to get his son admitted, but also joined the queue at Fourways High. “We have to keep out options open,” he said. “Especially in Joburg you can’t afford to just have one schooling option.”

15 April, 6:30 am

Alleged Lack of government schools lead parents to camp outside Fourways High School to register new pupils for 2015.

Relentless parents stayed the night to ensure their children stood a chance to attend Fourways High School next year.

The line reached a few hundred people early on in the evening.

Prepared parents brought extra coats, blankets, chairs and even a braai.

But the question is: Why the frenzy to register children at this school?

On the one side parents shared that there weren’t many government schools in the area, even though land was available to develop schools. A few hundred meters down the road from Fourways High School next to
Norscot Koppie, there is a large vacant plot that belong to the Gauteng Department of Education.

On the other side, parents maintain that Fourways High School is a stellar institution for seconday education.

On the Fourways Review Facebook page Berdine Rossouw said it was a very good school. Rachel Louise Glintenkamp said that is just what parents had to do for their children, saying it is a brilliant school, and her son was in grade 10.

On the newspaper’s BlackBerry group Amanda Irving said plenty of parents with children in the school could afford private schools. “I have a teenager in grade 11 at the school and a younger daughter at one of the
most expensive schools in the area. The simple fact is Fourways High School is an outstanding school.”

14 APRIL, 6.40pm: With braai’s and tents parents line up to register at Fourways High

Cars lined Kingfisher Avenue for the most of the day, parents were waiting for 15 April for the admissions office to open.

Maria Raats said she was waiting in line to register her first-born daughter.

“I expected it to be though to register her, but I heard via the grapevine that you’ll have to show up early.”

Raats had been waiting in line since early afternoon.

A chorus of parents agreed that the problem was simply not enough government schools in the Fourways area.

With only schools in Northriding High School and Bryanston servicing the immediate area, those unable to afford private school have little choice but to wait in line.

By 6pm the estimated 500 parents waiting outside the school, had started making dinner plans, with some erecting their braai’s to keep warm, cook food – in an effort to abide by the law and register their kids.

The school said they would open gates at 2am to start the registration process.

Among themselves parents who were first in line started a list they handed to security to ensure there was a first-come-first-serve order.

At the back of the line, parents are however determined to stay the night in an effort to get their children in to the school.