Gauteng Department of Education is prepared for the 2019 school year

The Gauteng Department of Education released a statement on school readiness before schools reopened on January 9.

The first day of school started with Gauteng Premier David Makhura, MEC for Education Panyaza Lesufi and MEC for Infrastructure Development Jacob Mamabolo handing over the first Smart School in the Ekurhuleni North district, Menzi Primary School in Langaville.

The department welcomes Grade R and Grade One learners who are entering the school system in 2019.

It notes with excitement the migrating of Grade R from the Department of Social Development to that of Education and the introduction of a formal programme and curriculum to all Early Child Development Centres.

On admissions placement, the department says that of the 282 613 learners who applied on time for Grade One and Eight admissions, 266 613 had been placed, with the remaining 16 210 yet to submit their acceptance or documents.

Spokesperson to the MEC for Education, Steve Mabona, says that numbers specific to Kwatsaduza will be available on January 18 after all parents have accepted or rejected offers for the schools that their children have been placed in.

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Parents have until midday on January 18 to accept the offers.

The department asked that late applicants go to the district office where they are to apply and will be allocated to one of the 863 available schools.

The common challenges reported by parents at the district offices include new applicants, follow-ups on appeals and transfer requests to schools that are no longer available. This is confirmed by parent Ntombifikile Mnisi who was outside the Springs District Office on January 7 looking to get her daughter transferred to a school closer to her.

“I registered in October last year and my child, who went to Geluksdal Primary School, has been allocated to a school in KwaThema and I am told she cannot be moved to Geluksdal Secondary School because it is full,” she says.

Another parent, Nomshado Biyeki, was also at the district office on January 7 after being told when submitting her child’s final report and transfer letter that her child was not on the list at the school she had been told her child was accepted at.

“My child was accepted after I completed the application in April and when I took the documents to the school, they said my child was not on the list.

“When I got to the district office, I was informed that my child was indeed on the list and he has started school at the school I wanted,” she says.

The department says that late applications come with unplanned financial impediments, with additional funding being needed to finance educator salaries, additional classrooms, learning material and furniture.

Where necessary, mobile classrooms will be used to accommodate these learners while the department looks for more permanent ways to accommodate them.

It says it is doing everything possible to place learners in schools and appeals for calm and patience.

The department anticipates that all 2018 applicants will be placed by the end of January 2019.

January has been declared the Education Focus Month under the theme, “deliver quality education in modern and conducive learning environments”.

The focus is on activities related to education so as to mark the start of the 2019 school year.

The activities planned include:

• Visits to the top two township schools;

• Breakfast with no fee-paying schools that achieved 100 per cent matric pass;

• Opening of new schools – launch of Schools of Specialisation for 2019;

• Online registration placement – bursary awards function – new young writers programme;

• Meeting with school principals – A meeting with all teacher unions and SGB formations.

Eight-hundred and fifty-five Funza Lushaka bursaries were allocated to districts, with 283 of these graduates being issued with provisional placement letters.

Funza Lushaka is a multi-year programme that promotes teaching as a profession by providing bursaries to allow learners to complete a teaching qualification.

This comes after the Educator’s Post Establishment and Circular addressing the implementation were issued following consultation with the labour department.

The delivery of learner and teacher support material and furniture is going well.

Volume One workbooks have all been delivered and 913 of the 1 087 schools that ordered furniture have received it.

New schools are the first priority for furniture delivery followed by additional classrooms and finally backlogs at existing schools.

Combo desks to the value of R5.7-million were ordered from environmental affairs for delivery to e-schools as soon as security is in place.

The department says that it is ready for the transportation of learners in the last quarter of the financial year which runs from January 2019 to March 2019.

The number of learners benefiting from the programme is expected to increase by eight per cent which will increase the number of learners from 124 752 to around 134 732 learners across the province in the 2019 academic year.

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Approximately 1.4 million learners in the province across 1 621 schools will receive a meal as part of the Schools Nutrition Programme, and as such, the department is in the process of procuring eating utensils for the schools.

The number is expected to increase to 1 574 380 as a result of in-migration in line with admissions.

The department congratulates its class of 2018 on their 87.92 per cent pass rate which reclaimed Gauteng’s position of the top performing province.

The department appeals to learners who did not make it to not lose hope and sign up for the Matric Second Chance Programme at their nearest district office where they will be provided with study material and support.

Learners can apply for their scripts to be re-checked or re-marked before January 18. Application forms for this can be found at schools or examination centres.

The fees are R25 for re-checking, R105 for re-marking and R205 for viewing the script which can be done after re-checking or re-marking.

Learners from no-fee schools and those whose parents have applied for concessions are exempted from these fees.

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