Hundreds of children in the East London district have still to be placed at schools, with the academic year already in its second week.The pupils, most hoping to be placed in Grade 1 and 8, have not been accommodated within the education system and schools around East London say their classrooms are at capacity.
St Johns Road Primary SGB deputy chairman Dan Bolman, told a group of frustrated parents last week that the department of education must make a plan.
“No more children can be accepted at the school because it already has a ratio of one teacher to 40 pupils. The department has a responsibility to place all the children as part of their human right to an education.
“We have a big yard and are willing to take more children if the department can provide temporary structures and teachers.”
Frustrated parents, who have been sent from pillar to post, were at the Rubusana district office in Mdantsane yesterday to find out what would become of their children while others camped outside various schools hoping for placement.
Nomandla Fana was disappointed when her early application at St Johns Roads Primary was rejected despite having a child at the school already.
“I was guaranteed that my child would be taken because of the sibling already at the school. Now I am struggling and nobody is giving us answers as to what will happen.”
Xoliswa Qakamfana, has a similar problem at Greenpoint High School – she has a child at the school but her daughter Liyabukwa has been rejected for Grade 8.
“We were told that first preference always went to the children with siblings, especially those living within the vicinity, which we do.”
A depressed Lingiwe Diamani only applied for her daughter Agcobile, due to be in Grade 10 this year, in November.
“St Johns only goes up to Grade 9 which is a problem itself, and for the first time application forms were not distributed at the school like previous years.”
Education district director Sihle Mnguni said hundreds of children still needed to be placed but couldn’t provide an exact figure.
“As a district we are negotiating with schools to place hundreds of learners but we cannot impose because there are different reasons schools do not admit more learners.”
Mnguni said while some had been restricted by space, others were limited by shortage of teachers and resources.
“Currently there is an infrastructure provision plan being made at provincial level, but as the district we are giving ourselves this week to exhaust all options before we hand over to the province.
“As long as the names of the needy learners are with us, we will do everything to ensure we address their situation.” — mbalit@dispatch.co.za
Hundred of children in the cold
The pupils, most hoping to be placed in Grade 1 and 8, have not been accommodated within the education system and schools around East London say their classrooms are at capacity.
St Johns Road Primary SGB deputy chairman Dan Bolman, told a group of frustrated parents last week that the department of education must make a plan.
“No more children can be accepted at the school because it already has a ratio of one teacher to 40 pupils. The department has a responsibility to place all the children as part of their human right to an education.
“We have a big yard and are willing to take more children if the department can provide temporary structures and teachers.”
Frustrated parents, who have been sent from pillar to post, were at the Rubusana district office in Mdantsane yesterday to find out what would become of their children while others camped outside various schools hoping for placement.
Nomandla Fana was disappointed when her early application at St Johns Roads Primary was rejected despite having a child at the school already.
“I was guaranteed that my child would be taken because of the sibling already at the school. Now I am struggling and nobody is giving us answers as to what will happen.”
Xoliswa Qakamfana, has a similar problem at Greenpoint High School – she has a child at the school but her daughter Liyabukwa has been rejected for Grade 8.
“We were told that first preference always went to the children with siblings, especially those living within the vicinity, which we do.”
A depressed Lingiwe Diamani only applied for her daughter Agcobile, due to be in Grade 10 this year, in November.
“St Johns only goes up to Grade 9 which is a problem itself, and for the first time application forms were not distributed at the school like previous years.”
Education district director Sihle Mnguni said hundreds of children still needed to be placed but couldn’t provide an exact figure.
“As a district we are negotiating with schools to place hundreds of learners but we cannot impose because there are different reasons schools do not admit more learners.”
Mnguni said while some had been restricted by space, others were limited by shortage of teachers and resources.
“Currently there is an infrastructure provision plan being made at provincial level, but as the district we are giving ourselves this week to exhaust all options before we hand over to the province.
“As long as the names of the needy learners are with us, we will do everything to ensure we address their situation.” — mbalit@dispatch.co.za
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