• While the Gauteng Department of Education has placed 290 751 grade 1 and 8 learners, as many as 1 394 are yet to be placed.
• The majority of inland schools reopen on Wednesday for the first term of 2023.
• The MEC says that the department is working around the clock to make sure that all learners are placed and in a school.

On the eve of inland schools opening for the 2023 year, Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane has asked parents who are waiting for their children to be placed to be patient.

While the department has already placed 290 751 grade 8 and grade 1 learners, as many as 1 394 learners are yet to be placed in schools.

“We are working around the clock,” the MEC told SA News. “We are engaging our schools. We are continuing to place our learners. When we started we had 292 145 complete applications. These are the parents who were able to provide all the necessary documentation and also met the deadline. We also had incomplete applications.”

The unfortunate situation is that at this hour, many schools are at capacity and as such the department has to make arrangements so that the right to education of these learners isn’t compromised.

Among these arrangements the department has made the following provisions:

• The procurement of 419 mobiles to address pressure of unplaced applications across the province
• The procurement of self-build classrooms to increase school capacity
• Establishing satellite schools in high pressure areas
• Working with sister departments to acquire more land to increase the number of schools in high pressure areas

“In Olifant, we have engaged a church where they have given us space to ensure that we close off the remaining 236 Grade 1 applicants and also there’s an additional three mobile units that will be provided to increase school capacities so that we can place all the learners,” Chiloane said.

The MEC added that the department is engaging with schools in Kempton Park to place 501 grade 8 learners.

The department is reluctant to have learners attending school classes remotely and it’s determined to put every learner in Gauteng into a school.

In addition to addressing the unplaced learners, Chiloane urged parents and civil organisations not to disrupt the department in its work.

“Allow us to do our work. Don’t go and disrupt because you want media attention. There are ways that you can find media attention without necessarily disrupting the very important work of education,” said the MEC.

Meanwhile, the Department of Basic Education is confident that all is well for the reopening of inland schools on Wednesday.

“We’re ready for tomorrow, it helps that we’re taking them by batches, so we don’t have to look across the country- but focus on a few provinces and our check system indicates that we’re indeed ready,” spokesperson for the Department of Basic Education, Elijah Mhlanga told the SABC.

This will of course be put the test tomorrow morning when the majority of schools across the province reopen for the new year.

Be sure to check the traffic reports in the morning, the school run can be brutal.

[Image – Mwesigwa Joel on Unsplash]