Following the official return to school for inland provinces on Wednesday, the DA in Gauteng embarked on its own oversight visit to check school readiness and was not impressed.
Several schools around the province have been found wanting, with a high number of pupils still waiting to be placed by the provincial department of education.
DA Gauteng spokesperson for education, Khume Ramulifho, visited schools in Soweto and said a lack of readiness in some of them will have a negative impact on the learners.
“It is regrettable that the Gauteng department of education failed to place all the learners who applied timeously before the new academic year started today,” said Ramulifho.
“During our oversight, we observed many parents queuing in search of space for learners. Equally, the DA has been inundated with calls and e-mails from parents desperately looking for space.
“The lack of completion of infrastructure projects compounds the problem. One example is Braamfischer Primary School, where the contractor left the site in October last year. As a result, learners are overcrowded, with more than 60 learners in a classroom.
“This school should have been completed in 2020 to accommodate more learners who are still without a school.”
The party has urged education MEC Matome Chiloane to prioritise placing all the learners and allocating resources to overcrowded schools, suggesting that any further delays will only aggravate the education challenges in the province.
The DA has given Chiloane until the end of the week to ensure that all the learners are placed.
“The learners and parents of Gauteng deserve a responsive and caring government to expedite the resolution in admissions and school readiness.
“The DA will continue to monitor developments regarding interventions to place all the learners. We will further visit schools to confirm whether the MEC kept his promise to deliver mobile classrooms to high-enrolment demand schools to avoid classroom overcrowding,” said Ramulifho.
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