Hundreds of pupils still not placed as parents take to the street

It’s the 10th day of the academic year but hundreds of children are not placed in a school yet, with upset parents taking to the streets to prevent their children from sitting at home.

Yesterday, the DA’s Pretoria North head of constituency Bronwynn Engelbrecht and DA shadow MEC for education Sergio Isa dos Santos visited Laerskool Danie Malan Primary in Pretoria North after the school closed its doors on Monday when angry parents protested, demanding their kids be placed.

It was business as usual at the school yesterday with no interruptions, with Gauteng department of education spokesperson Steve Mabona confirming classes resumed yesterday.

Business as usual at Laerskool Danie Malan Primary

“It is a bilingual school. It needs to be noted that this is the only school in Pretoria North that still has Afrikaans as a language,” Engelbrecht said.

“There is another school close by which is not full, which does have capacity but the parents want their children to come to this school.”

EFF Tshwane region’s Prince Shabangu said they had a meeting with the school principal on Friday after four children were sent away.

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“It’s about racism and they do not want to transform, they are scared,” he said.

Shabangu said the majority of the people in the country were black.

“The Afrikaans-speaking people are a minority. That’s why we need an additional classroom,” he said.

Children sitting at home

Shabangu said they know of 187 children sitting at home while there were storerooms that could be turned into additional classrooms.

“But they are scared of us and transformation. Enough is enough,” he said.

Linet Matshinga, who doesn’t speak Afrikaans, lives with her daughter three blocks from the school.

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Her daughter, who is in Grade 5, has fully adapted to learning in Afrikaans and scored high marks with ease.

When they tried to register Matshinga’s friend’s child, Hope, in Grade 1 in Danie Malan, the spaces were filled up as soon as the registrations opened last year. It forced them to enrol her in an Afrikaans class.

After meeting with the school, Dos Santos said the school was full.

School full

“The department approached the school in November to give them extra classrooms on the school’s sports facilities.

“The school refused.”

Dos Santos said the department was taking away sports facilities to accommodate mobile classrooms.

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“The school has 1 372 pupils, with enough classrooms that are full to capacity with a teacher-pupil ratio of one to 37 or 39.

“They have a majority of Afrikaans classrooms with one English class per grade.”

Dos Santos said the department approached the school in November last year after the admission process had closed in September.

DA approached school in November

“We are satisfied the school isn’t doing anything wrong, the problem is the department that’s not effectively planning for the new school year,” he said.

Dos Santos said the school was targeted every year because it was perceived to be non-transformative.

“But, in reality, it’s an Afrikaans language school – but there are community members that feel that it needs to be transformed.”

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Local ward councillor Quentin Meyer said the chaos at the school had become an annual occurrence.

“The problem is not with the school. The parents should take on the department and not the school.”

Meyer said he wasn’t bothered about race, but rather the safety of the children.

“The school isn’t racist, it’s just full,” he said.