Please help us, plead parents of unplaced children in Gauteng schools

Parents of children who have not been placed at schools in Gauteng say they have no money for private schooling and are desperate for the education department to ensure their children are enrolled. 

On Tuesday, theeducation department announced that 1,394 pupils were without schools and still needed to be placed.

It said the majority of those who had not been placed had failed to submit the required documentation to the department.

Wednesday was an exciting day for thousands of pupils on their first day of school. However, those left sitting at home did not know what the future held for them.

Hundreds of parents braved the scorching sun, with some missing work, to queue at different education department offices to get schools for their children. 

“I cannot afford a private school, my grandson needs to go to a public school”

Hillbrow resident Thandi Mbatha, 58, who finally managed to get her grandson, who is to start grade 8, placed at a school after finding his name was not on the school’s system on Tuesday, said she had applied last year for him .

She said education department administrative staff had told her “it must have been a glitch that my grandson was not in the school’s register”.

She said she had mostly relied on a disability grant since being stabbed during a robbery in 2002.

“I cannot afford a private school, my grandson needs to go to a public school,” she said.

Private school Curro Academy in Aurora charges R6,880 a month for grade 1 and R9,550 for grade 8. Curro Academy in Pretoria charges R3,170 a month for grade 1 and R3,730 for grade 8. Another private school, Kingsmead College, charges R99,000 annually for grade 0-2 and R152,130 for grade 8-9.

Mbatha said her two daughters had attended a private school for a year when they could not get space in a public school and would be sent back home when they did not pay fees on time.

 “I don’t want that to happen to my grandson because he will be behind with school work. I do not want anything that could jeopardise his future.”

Mbatha said she believed public schools also provided quality education, adding, “my children, when they were in public schools, did well and when I changed them things changed. I can say there are public schools that are better than some private schools.”

Sent from “pillar to post”

Vuyokazi Mdletye, a parent of a grade 8 child, travelled from Greenstone Hill in the east of Johannesburg to the department’s Marshalltown office to get help after being “sent from pillar to post” for days. 

“I applied in August 2022 and submitted supporting documents on the last day of applications because I had struggled attaining my daughter’s certificate on time. 

“She did not get space at any of the schools in the area. When I went to the Ekurhuleni district office they told me there was only space in Benoni schools [35km away]. That is far from me and transport could cost me a lot of money.”

Mdletye said she was planning to move her daughter to her mother’s home in Alexandra as there was space available in nearby schools.

“The sacrifice I am making to move my child is because I cannot afford the transport fees. I also can’t afford to take my child to a private school. I work as an administrator and still have a low level of income at work.

“We are pleading to the department to please assist us and our children.” Mdletye said.

Meanwhile, Gauteng education MEC Matome Chiloane said all children who had not yet been placed in schools would be placed but “not at the schools they want”.

WHAT ABOUT HOME SCHOOLING?

Companies that offer home schooling told TimesLIVE they were seeing an increase in parents enrolling and inquiring about home schooling. 

Albie Masters from Syllabis Education Homeschool in Johannesburg said they were expecting an increase in the number of parents considering registering  their children for home schooling.

“ I am sure that because of the shortages in public schools there will definitely be an increase,” he said.

Masters said their programmes start from as little as R400 and R2,400.

“The prices get more expensive when a child needs to have a tutor.”

Kaylene Maree from EdYouZone Homeschool in Randburg said their fees ranged from R4,500 to R5,500 a month.

“We have qualified teachers and the students attend classes at our centre,” Maree said.

TimesLIVE

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