Several concerned parents have recently contacted the DFA regarding the placement of their Grade 8 children.
THE EXAMS are over! And with that, many city pupils are free and out having fun during the school holidays, looking forward to the forthcoming festive season now that the 2022 academic year is officially over.
A number of others, however, have nothing to rejoice about.
Several concerned parents have recently contacted the DFA regarding the placement of their Grade 8 children.
According to the parents and caregivers, the children themselves are stressed out, and what is happening to them right now is terrible for the pupils and family members.
“My granddaughter will start Grade 8 next year,” said one city grandmother. “We jumped in as soon as the registration portal opened and registered our youngster. Northern Cape High School was our first choice, then Kimberley Girls’ High School and last, Kimberley Technical High School. We intended to put her in an English school.”
But things did not work out as the family planned.
“We learned on Friday that she had been assigned to St Boniface High School. We tried to file an appeal after realising that was not one of our three options, but we were unable to do so. Six additional pupils were the subject of our inquiry, and all of them were accepted into the schools of their choice despite living much further away from the school than we do,” the grandmother told the DFA, adding, “Why is this even possible or just?”
She said they are unsure of when they will learn the outcome of their appeal.
“We won’t likely learn where our child will be put until next year. At this point, we are unsure of what to do. We must get school supplies and uniforms. Our little child is under stress and this is not good for the family or for her.
“We have contacted the MEC for Education’s office, but no response has been received. The department is violating our parental right to send our child to the school of our choosing.”
Another city mother said that she was in a similar situation.
“When you register your child for Grade 8, you have to put in three different school options, and that’s what I did when the registration opened on the 23rd of May. My first and only option was Northern Cape High School because it is one of the English-speaking schools that my child would adjust to easily and it is affordable. I, however, had no other option but to fill in the other two schools, namely Kimberley Boys’ High School and Kimberley Technical High School,” she said. “I received a message that my child was placed in Boys’ High School.”
The mother, however, said that Boys’ High would not be suitable for her son.
“I appealed the decision to the Department of Education, but the MEC upheld it and stated that it was final.”
The mother said she then contacted St Patrick’s CBC high school and asked them if there was any way they could help her financially so she could send her son to the school.
“I would need to pay a non-refundable deposit and then pay R7 680 a month in school fees in order to enrol my child in CBC.”
The school denied her request.
The frustrated mother then said that she was even prepared to keep her child back a year and try again the following year.
“I contacted the principal of Newton and asked whether they could hold my child back for the year, but they said they may not keep him back as he is a passing pupil. I even considered keeping him at home for a year, but I was informed that this was prohibited.
“The placement process is flawed. I don’t know what we are going to do, and I know there are other parents out there that are sitting in the same situation.
“What am I supposed to tell my child?”
According to Northern Cape Department of Education spokesperson Geoffrey van der Merwe, the department opened the 2023 online pupil admissions from May 23, at 9am, to midnight on June 20 for Grades R, 1 and 8. Parents applied directly to schools for admissions and placements for all other grades.
All the applications were considered and recommended for placement in the following order:
1. If the applicant learner(s) already has (have) a sibling attending the school of application in the year of submission (sibling means a learner who has at least one parent who is also the parent of the learner already attending that school;
2. If the place of residence of the applicant learner(s) is in the same suburb as the school applied to;
3. If the place of residence (residential suburb) of the applicant learner(s) is adjacent to the suburb of the school applied to;
4. Applicant learner(s) whose parent/ guardian is an employee at the school applied to;
5. If places remain after all the above-mentioned applicants have been offered places, other applicants, in the order of the position of the application should be recommended.
Van der Merwe stated that due to the high demand for English-medium schools and more especially “town” schools, the department required parents to choose at least three schools when applying to a high-demand school.
The department started placements on August 19 and fortnightly thereafter to inform parents of either a placement or that the department was still in the process of placing applicants. A total of 27,184 pupils applied online. The department managed to place 78% of applicants in the first round of placement with 70% of applicants being placed in their first-choice school, 6% in their second-choice and 2% in their third-choice schools.
The remaining 22% of applicants were informed that the department was still working on placing them.
The department continued to negotiate additional spaces at schools and as places became available, placements were made and parents were informed accordingly.
After exhausting all the spaces, the department placed 248 pupils at schools that had available capacity.
The department still has 328 unplaced pupils.
“We are in the process of creating additional space in identified schools to accommodate all the unplaced learners,” said Van der Merwe.
The placement criteria were not followed during the late application period in November 2022. Parents who applied late could only apply to schools that had space, hence the placement of people was based only on available space and not based on the place of residence or any other criteria.
“In the event of parents being unhappy with the placement, the placement SMSes sent to parents indicate that they have a right to appeal their placement to the MEC. The MEC adjudicates and parents are informed of the outcome,” said Van der Merwe.
