Parents of learners in Gauteng schools are calling for the removal of the online school applications process.
This comes after numerous parents voiced their frustrations at the fact that although schools have officially kicked off for 2023, there are still children who are without a place in a school for Grades 1 and/or 8.
Camping outside District offices, parents are demanding that their children be placed and that the online applications process be scraped as an application method completely, as they feel applying online is to blame for why their children aren't in school.
Gauteng MEC, Malome Chiloane, says the number of parents camped outside District offices have decreased since the first gathering, as the GDE has managed to place some learners.
We've been getting positive feedback from parents with regard to placement, as opposed to initially [when] we were getting multiple appeals...now parents have been able to come onboard and trust the Department, that where we are placing their children [is] going to give them the same quality of education that they were expecting from their preferred schools.
One week before schools reopened earlier this month, there were still thousands of learners without a definite place in a school. Online applications opened last year in July, and the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) even granted an extension for late applications, that lasted around a month.
This allowed parents who failed to submit placement applications during the original application period to apply for the placement of their children. However, the issue is not so simple.
Parents who applied late are likely to still be waiting for placement, but for others who applied on time are frustrated at the delay, especially because they applied months in advance.
Others had issues using the online system when applying, and feel that is the reason behind why they were unsuccessful in securing a school for their children.
Chiloane says majority of the learners are placed, but available space at parents' school of choice still remains an issue.
"Parents have preferences, and if they don't get those preferences, then they assume that the online system is the problem," explained the MEC.
The online system is very effective, it assists us with the planning; I'm just saying, imagine having to deal with more than 350 000 parents looking for spaces in the province, in a particular [school]. It will be cumbersome, it will be virtually impossible.
The MEC elaborated that the online system has allowed the Department to "cut the queue" and identify where there is available space in schools, as well as where the GDE needs to improve capacity.
The number of learners still needing a school is below 500, and a target has been set for 30 January, 2023 for all Grade One and Grade Eight learners to finally be placed, but Chiloane says the Department will wrap the process up "way before then".
