More than a month after the academic year began, there were still children in Gauteng who had yet to be placed in schools, the DA said.
Parents had been contacting the party for help as the schools and districts were failing to provide positive feedback.
“I have referred some names of children to the department, but they haven’t been placed as yet,” DA spokesperson, Khume Ramulifho said.
“We are urging the MEC to help all children who have no schools to approach the department and provide support. We can’t afford to have children not to be at school.”
There were parents who were opting to give up their children’s education as they couldn’t find schools, Ramulifho added.
The Gauteng Department of Education had admitted in February that there were about 259 schoolchildren who were still not placed.
Creecy issued a statement on 19 February stating that “there is still a trickle of new applications been received and these are being dealt with on a case by case basis”.
She said the department had dealt with more than 20 000 late applications in January 2014, adding that it remained concerned about parents who ignored the official admissions period.
“There are still parents who are bringing children as late as mid-February without any compelling reason,” Creecy said, urging parents to comply with the admissions deadline.
However, she said, “We are very pleased that significant progress has been made in finalising enrolments and other logistics that go with the schools reopening. Our 10-day head count has revealed that we have this year welcomed 195 756 Grade 1s and 142 763 Grade 8 learners into our system, a 2.2 percent increase compared to the previous year.”
