Cape Town - The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) has been inundated with requests from parents who are upset because their children did not get placed in their school of choice.
Education MEC Debbie Schafer said schools have to inform parents by June 24 of whether their child’s application for the 2017 school year had been successful or not, and some schools have already informed parents of their decisions.
“For some, this has been good news and for others it has resulted in disappointment. Following the receipt of these letters, the WCED and the Education Ministry have been inundated with requests from parents for placement in their schools of choice, or in schools closest to their homes.
“Many are upset that their children have not been accepted into a particular school and are demanding placement at these schools.”
She said school governing bodies and not the department were responsible for the admissions policies.
“Therefore, a school can determine certain criteria that are in line with the law, which could benefit some learner admissions over others - such as sibling preference.”
Schafer said factors that parents had to consider included:
* Applying at a school does not guarantee acceptance. The department has in all its communication indicated that parents must apply at more than one school.
* The proximity to a school does not guarantee placement. Living 50m or 50km from a school does not guarantee placement. Some schools factor proximity in their admissions policies, but it is rarely the sole criterion.
* Some schools received five times the number of applications than the places they had available and could not satisfy the needs of everyone who applied.
She said once the June 24 deadline had passed, parents would have until July 25 to inform schools of whether they were accepting the place their children had been offered.
The department would then start capturing admissions on its online database.
“This will then allow WCED officials to identify which schools still had space and to direct parents to those schools, as well as track the number of unplaced learners and to follow up with district officials to reduce and resolve those cases. Those who have not secured places by the third term are encouraged to contact their nearest district office to assist with placement.”
Parents who felt their children had been discriminated against during the application process could make an appeal to the MEC with evidence of the discrimination.
Cape Argus