Dear Editor
In May this year, I was among the many parents who were the first to register my child in two schools nearer to the home of my children’s mother.
And within seven days of registration, I submitted relevant documents to one of the schools. I did not submit the documents to the second preferred school after racial abuse/insults were hurled at me.
I reported the incident of a racial slur to the MEC for Education Panyaza Lesufi. The matter was subsequently dealt with and settled, and the school apologised.
I then waited for an SMS to confirm the placement of my child, but that was never the case until October 31 which was the last day for placement.
While panicking what to do next, I was among the thousands of parents who received an SMS asking pus to visit the nearest Department of education districts by November 3 (mind you this was on a Sunday) for placement. I could not believe a large number of parents who were cramped at the Meyersday GDE district for placement.
After three hours I was still waiting in the queue, still unattended.
The heat was scorching, and parents were not even offered bottled water. There were no mobile toilets despite a large number of parents who were there. Some parents decided to leave because of the long queue on a hot sunny summer day. To cut the story short, eventually, most parents ended up leaving after the situation turned chaotic.
Some parents who were interviewed informed us they had been forced to accept schools they did not choose for their children. Some of the parents chose to opt for the schools that did not offer subjects their children did not enroll in. Some had to opt for a school with a vernacular language their children were not familiar with.
To make matters worse, some of the schools were far from their homes.
My question to the education authorities is: If it is not broken why fix it?
Like many of the parents, I do not find any fault with the previous system used to admit children at schools. I’d rather we revert back to the old system than the new system.
Some of us are unemployed and cannot afford to be sent from pillar to post to register our children, especially on a Sunday. If the department cannot replace the new admission system, let it deal with admissions efficiently.
They may as well inform us the schools of our choice are full and simply opt to place our children at schools of their own choice, taking into consideration that not all parents who have registered and accepted such placement are going to take their children to those schools.
For MEC Lesufi to threaten that whoever did not want the placement of his/her child at a school chosen by the department will forfeit such a chance, is pure arrogance and abuse of power.
The ANC government is the government for the people and by the people. Arrogance has been one of the main causes of the downfall of other liberation movements across Africa.
And like e-tolls, this system might also cost them votes if they do not listen to the masses.
Angry Parent
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