More than 11 000 pupils yet to be placed in Gauteng schools

The number of unplaced pupils in Gauteng who applied online has been reduced to 2 865, the provincial department of education said on Friday.

Acting department spokesperson Oupa Bodibe said this meant that of the 58 000 pupils without places, about 55 800 have since been placed.

The number of late applications stood at 18 327.

“Of this, 9 651 pupils have been placed and 8 676 are still to be placed.

“The total number of unplaced pupils now stands at 11 541,” Bodibe said.

The department did not want to comment on the lessons learnt from the new online application system.

Online applications made many parents frustrated and angry and some called on the department to go back to the old-fashioned way of doing things for applications. But the department insisted that online was the way to go.

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The online application system was for pupils in grades 1 and 8.

When the online system went live for the first time last year, there were initially technical glitches because of the high volume of parents who were applying for their children.

The system improved, but many parents were furious when it emerged that more than 50 000 pupils were unplaced when the new academic year commenced.

This week, Democratic Alliance shadow MEC for education Khume Ramulifho said it was of concern that during the second week of schooling in the new year, some pupils still had not been placed.

“This highlights the department’s failure to rapidly equip the province with desperately needed new schools,” he said.

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