School’s registration backlog
Mashudu Malimagovha, circuit manager and administration coordinator at Johannesburg South District Office said the turn out was more than they expected especially regarding parents who were applying for the first time.
SCORES of parents queued at Johannesburg South District Office in Ormonde on January 13, hoping for their children to be placed in schools before January 17.
This was the plan by the Gauteng Department of Education to at least fast-track the process of registration which saw thousands of Grade One and Grade Eight learners still stranded with no places available at schools.
DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Education, Khume Ramulifho, conducted an oversight visit to assess how efficient the parents of the learners that were helped, were.
“We observed that not all learners in Gauteng will be placed before the schools open and the academic year begins. A number of learners have not yet been placed and some of the preferred schools have reached full capacity.
“The department must strike a balance to ensure that placements at schools are fairly distributed and must pay attention to schools with less demand. Some schools have no space available, while some schools were declared full from day one of online registration.
“The biggest challenge is the lack of excellent schools. Hence there is the demand for enrolment in those few schools of excellence that are performing well. We call upon the Gauteng Education MEC, Panyaza Lesufi, to create more high-performing schools by resourcing underperforming schools with adequate infrastructure which includes sporting facilities, well-equipped libraries, laboratories and qualified teachers.
“We proposed that MEC Lesufi open online registration in March, and communicate with parents regarding placements before the end of September. This must include driving awareness in areas where parents have little access to mainstream media,” he said.
Mashudu Malimagovha, circuit manager and administration co-ordinator at Johannesburg South District Office said the turn out was more than they expected especially regarding parents who were applying for the first time.
“Southern suburb schools have reached capacity – except for Kibler Park Secondary, Diversity High and Glenvista Primary. Our obligation is to place learners; however, when the parents don’t want a particular school, that’s where we have a problem,” he said.
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