Cape Town - Meetings top of meetings were the order of the day at Cape schools preparing for the return of their pupils while helpless parents waited outside, desperately attempting to find places at full or already oversubscribed schools.
Students will be returning to school tomorrow, with class lists and timetables already set and printed.
Alexander Sinton High School acting deputy principal Jason Williams said for the morning alone, about 30 parents had come appealing for spaces for their children across all grades but mostly Grade 8.
Acting principal Ashrif Barday said: “We don’t like to show parents away; we feel every child needs to have access to education, but at the same time if our hands are tied, it’s very difficult because you also can’t overload a class.”
Some of the names have been placed on a waiting list, already 60 to 70 names long.
The school is expecting 1 200 pupils tomorrow, however it can accommodate about 1 000. Last year it had 273 matric pupils, which had made exam periods challenging.
Ideally, the school wants 40 pupils per classroom, but normally breaches this figure. This year’s maths literacy class will have 71 pupils.
Textbooks were issued to pupils towards the end of last year but shortages exist in core subjects, with the school appealing to neighbouring schools for assistance.
“We have a challenge with getting back all our textbooks and that is sometimes where the shortages arrive,” Barday said.
The school completed its registration process last year, including its Grade 8 orientation.
Barday said the school received little of its more than R5 000 annual school fees.
“To give you an idea in terms of the poor payment from parents is that we’ve got over R11 million outstanding school fees, if everybody had to pay. A lot of our pupils applied for exemption, which makes the effective running of the school difficult.”
The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) provides a stipend for each exempted learner, however this does not cover the full cost of tuition.
Khayelitsha resident Kholosa Bikani said she applied at five schools online, but did not receive placement at any for her child for Grade 8.
“I got a call from the WCED to tell me that they’re going to give me the schools, which I don’t like. I didn’t have any options or choices but those schools. Now I came here to try my luck,” she said while seated outside Livingstone High School under a tree.
The school’s principal, Ralia Ganie, said the school has intermittently seen parents appealing for placement since last week.
“We are full and oversubscribed for Grade 8, but there are many parents who have not yet taken up the position.”
Some of the parents have been placed onto a waiting list, should spaces free up.
Khayelitsha resident Nompendulo Tukutezi said she was also searching for a space for her daughter for Grade 8.
Tukutezi visited four schools to find out if they had a place but was told that the schools were full.
Long queues were evident at some of the Khayelitsha schools as parents tried to register children before the schools officially open, with some getting turned away due to lack of space.
Parents from Khayelitsha were either camping outside gates or at the school halls waiting to be addressed with regards to the availability of space.
Despite having to register online, last minute registration was the main issue that needed to be dealt with at various schools.
Addressing the crowd on behalf of the principal, Andile Lili, who is the school governing body chairperson at Inkanini Primary, turned away parents whose children were not yet registered for any grade besides Grade 1.
“As the school our plan for the day is to deal with Grade 1 as we can assure parents that there's still space available for them but other than that parents whose children aren't going to be part of that Grade can come back on Wednesday.
“Even then we can't commit to anything as we can only assist them based on availability of space we might have”, he said.
Isiphamandla High School principal, Lonwabo Mbeke :“As teachers we are ready for the year ahead but it's unfortunate that we have parents who are here to register their kids. From as early as September last year the school was declared full.”
Turned away at Isiphamandla, Nozuko Mhlanyana, a parent to a Grade 10 student, showed a sign of frustration as that was one of her top 3 schools.
“I don't know where else to go from here. I did apply online around November last year for the same school but no response was given to me”, she said.
The WCED have appealed to parents to contact their Education District Office immediately to arrange for placements.
“They must not queue up outside schools with the expectation of being accepted to their school of choice.
“Our schools are full, and while they may be able to assist with completing applications, the district office will assist with placement centrally,” Education MEC David Maynier said.