Cape Town - Namhla Magadla, who has unsuccessfully applied for a placement to five different schools for her child, believesthe Western Cape Education Department's school’s placement application system is failing them as parents, and she is calling on the department to abolish this system and bring back the old system.
Magadla, who is also a teacher, said she had been sent from pillar to post since her 6-year-old daughter was rejected by all five schools she had applied to, without any explanation.
‘’I stay in Kuils River and work in Kraaifontein. I, therefore, chose these schools because they are on the same route that I travel every day, and this means that I will be able to drop off my daughter and pick her up by myself from school and that these schools also have after-care,’’ said Magadla.
She said in light of the recent accident where primary school kids were killed while they were travelling in the back of a bakkie, was one of the reasons she didn’t want her child to use such transportation if she was admitted to a school far from her route.
‘’The department has really failed me, and they don’t give me tangible reasons or provide solutions as to why my child was rejected from these schools; maybe it's because of the colour of my skin, or they fear that I won’t be able to afford the fees. We were better off with the old application system, as we had to fill out forms and send them to the schools by ourselves, and the school would then call us for an interview and tell you the reason they rejected your child. Now, we have to apply online, and the system rejects you just like that, without even giving reasons."
She said she feared that, by January next year, her child wouldn’t have a school.
Asked about Magadla’s ordeal, the MEC of Education David Maynier said the department could not release personal information about a child or parent to the media.
He said over the past few weeks, schools had been applying their admissions policies to all applications they had received and had now started to make offers of places to parents.
“Thousands of places are still going to open up. We have over 41 000 learners with more than one offer, allowing over 41 000 spaces to still become available once their chosen schools are confirmed,” said Maynier.
He said if a parent felt a school made a mistake or acted unfairly in any way, they may submit an appeal of the decision to her by sending an email to [email protected] explaining why they believed the school’s decision should be overturned and attaching any evidence or documents in support of this.
“If parents do not get a place for their child at any school by the time schools finalise placement in the next few months, we will, of course, assist them with a place. Any parents who have not yet applied for a place for their child should do so urgently. Online applications are now closed, but in-person applications can still be made at their education district office,” said Maynier.