Two weeks into the school academic year, scores of pupils are yet to be placed in schools in East London.
Yesterday, frustrated parents camped at the East London education district Rubusana offices in Mdantsane demanding that their children be placed in schools.
The parents said they had applied for placement as far back as March last year.
Ntombizakhe Tiso was accompanied by her six-year-old daughter who was wearing a green school uniform when she went to Rubusana to look for a place for her.
The weeping mother said she had applied last year in March but had received a letter of rejection in November.
“The school said they would call me back and they never did. I decided to go there in November that’s when I heard that my child had been rejected because there were no more places available,” she said.
Tiso had applied to Cranberry Primary in Alphendale.
She said they had referred her to Rubusana, but “I’ve been coming here since schools opened and still they haven’t given me a tangible response”.
Everitt Alexander’ daughter is supposed to be doing Grade 11 this year.
She moved from King William’s Town to Buffalo Flats as her mother died last year.
Her father said the schools in his area refused to accept her, saying there was no more space available.
He said he applied to five schools but none of them accepted his daughter.
“I don’t understand why the government would allow our children to sit at home and not go to school because of placement issues,” he said.
Zukiswa Matyila, of Amalinda said she had applied to a number of schools but had been rejected by all. She said the inspectors at Rubusana said they would call her after seven days, which they never did.
“My daughter has been accompanying me the whole week but today I forced her to stay at home. I can’t handle seeing the disappointment in her face every day. This situation is traumatising her,” she said.
Provincial education spokesman Mali Mtima said they had sent teams to different districts to look for places for unplaced pupils.
He said they had a database that consisted of all the pupils who still needed placement.
“The database has full details of the learners and the schools they are looking for.
“Once a case has been sorted out the system automatically kicks them out.”
He said people should not put their names in the system and then look for schools themselves because this caused delays.
“We have a team looking for schools on parents’ behalf.” — zikhonam@dispatch.co.za
Many kids still without school place
Yesterday, frustrated parents camped at the East London education district Rubusana offices in Mdantsane demanding that their children be placed in schools.
The parents said they had applied for placement as far back as March last year.
Ntombizakhe Tiso was accompanied by her six-year-old daughter who was wearing a green school uniform when she went to Rubusana to look for a place for her.
The weeping mother said she had applied last year in March but had received a letter of rejection in November.
“The school said they would call me back and they never did. I decided to go there in November that’s when I heard that my child had been rejected because there were no more places available,” she said.
Tiso had applied to Cranberry Primary in Alphendale.
She said they had referred her to Rubusana, but “I’ve been coming here since schools opened and still they haven’t given me a tangible response”.
Everitt Alexander’ daughter is supposed to be doing Grade 11 this year.
She moved from King William’s Town to Buffalo Flats as her mother died last year.
Her father said the schools in his area refused to accept her, saying there was no more space available.
He said he applied to five schools but none of them accepted his daughter.
“I don’t understand why the government would allow our children to sit at home and not go to school because of placement issues,” he said.
Zukiswa Matyila, of Amalinda said she had applied to a number of schools but had been rejected by all. She said the inspectors at Rubusana said they would call her after seven days, which they never did.
“My daughter has been accompanying me the whole week but today I forced her to stay at home. I can’t handle seeing the disappointment in her face every day. This situation is traumatising her,” she said.
Provincial education spokesman Mali Mtima said they had sent teams to different districts to look for places for unplaced pupils.
He said they had a database that consisted of all the pupils who still needed placement.
“The database has full details of the learners and the schools they are looking for.
“Once a case has been sorted out the system automatically kicks them out.”
He said people should not put their names in the system and then look for schools themselves because this caused delays.
“We have a team looking for schools on parents’ behalf.” — zikhonam@dispatch.co.za
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