The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) spokesperson had mentioned that over the past seven years, the department has witnessed the trend of an average of 21,000 learners from outside the Western Cape province who have been registered for the first time.
According to some experts in the education sector, this is the result of families migrating to urban areas.
The Provincial Education Department received more than 25 000 late applications for Grade 1 and 8 after the department reached its deadline for online admission applications on 15 April 2022, and this number has grown exponentially ever since.
According to the department, placement is currently in progress for 129 of the Grade 1 and Grade 8 learners who submitted applications before the end of 2022.
Although some schools in the Western Cape might be full to the brim, in a statement, the Education Department has confirmed:
We are currently prioritising learners who have submitted late applications.
Some of the parents and caregivers of these learners are unreachable, even when there are places to offer to the learners.
Since 1 January 2023, the Provincial Education Department received 3,391 extremely late applications for Grade 1 and Grade 8 learners.
As of 6 February 2023, at least 98.8% of the unique Grade 1 and Grade 8 placement applications for the 2023 school year have been resolved, and the remaining 1.2% is still in the process of being placed.
The high number of cases where placement is still in progress are new applicants who arrived this year and this is the group of learners whom applications will be considered:
- Applications received on time before the deadline;
- Late applications received after the deadline but before the end of 2022; and
- Extremely late applications received since the start of this year.
Western Cape Education has confirmed that the late admission applications pose a great challenge, as they are arriving daily in an unpredictable pattern, and the department has to constantly chase a moving target.
