Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane says that while they have noted concerns from parents about children not being sent to their first choice school, it is because some schools have received abnormally high numbers of applications.
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JOHANNESBURG – Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane says all objections and appeals regarding the allocation of Year 1 and 8 students for 2023 must be made within seven days of receiving the acceptance sms.
The MEC was speaking during a media briefing at Parktown Boys, in Johannesburg on Sunday.
Chiloan says that although they have noticed concerns from parents about children not being sent to their first choice school because some schools have received an abnormally high number of applications.
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The MEC says that as a result, exceptions will be made only for parents whose children were sent to schools where they did not apply.
“Those who will be transferred to those schools, to which they would not apply, will survive. Such appeals will be considered. All objections will be considered on their merits.”
He also added that the department will take into account a number of factors why parents decide to give up a place for their children.
“Merits are different. You will find that we have placed your child in a school far away from you and there is no school transport or other arrangements for your child to go to that school. These are some of the merits that we will consider. So they’re different, it’s multiple factors … so we’re going to look at each individual objection on its own merits.”
Chiloane also says the department has allocated mobile classrooms for primary and secondary schools to curb capacity issues.
The MEC says the process will ease pressure on schools.
“So, as part of this process, we want to get about 599 additional classrooms for primary schools and 698 additional classrooms for secondary schools. And it’s not just for the high-pressure schools that you see here, but for other schools that aren’t necessarily streamlined.”
