Thousands of learners not enrolled in first week of school

Tens of thousands of learners are without a school in the first week of the 2018 academic year.

Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi said more than 31 000 learners in Gauteng were without a school.

“As of today, 2565 of the 31 000 learners have been placed,” he said at a press briefing on Tuesday.

The Department of Basic Education has recorded 11 249 learners in the Western Cape who still need placement in schools – 3 267 of these are Grade 1 learners and 4 401 are set to start Grade 8.

Close to 14 000 pupils have not been placed in Limpopo and 800 in the Northern Cape.

“Unplanned financial implications of admitting late applicants are substantial. Additional funding will have to be found to finance educator salaries, additional classrooms, learning and teaching support materials and school furniture,” said Lesufi.

The department’s spokesperson, Elijah Mhlanga, said district offices are processing all late applications.

In its quest to ensure “school readiness”, the department is fighting to ensure every learner is enrolled in school come mid-February and has sufficient learning resources.

Lesufi also lamented the decision by the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria that ruled Hoërskool Overvaal could not admit 55 English-speaking pupils as per the decision made by the Gauteng education department.

“The learners were unfairly not admitted by the school which opted to admit Afrikaans-speaking learners.

“We are disappointed by the judgement and have decided to appeal,” said Lesufi.

Other challenges that form part of the school readiness program by the department includes ensuring all schools are adequately resourced as the first term begins. This includes school teachers, learning material deliveries and creating a conducive learning environment.

The department will visit disadvantaged learners across Gauteng, Western Cape, Northern and Eastern Cape to donate school shoes and bicycles.

This will “ensure that learners who don’t benefit from the learner transport are provided with a means to travel to school and back without having to walk long distances,” said Mhlanga.

On Wednesday, Gauteng Premier David Makhura, Infrastructure Development MEC Jacob Mamabolo and Lesufi will hand over a newly built school in Westbury. This school replaces an old asbestos school.

“Provinces have been working hard to ensure that all necessary resources are made available in all schools,” said Mhlanga.

The school term begins on Wednesday in Gauteng while other learners in other parts of the country started on Monday.