Shooting sullies school start

Millions of children went back to school yesterday but there were still a few who had not been placed - and some tragedies marred the big day.

A seven-year-old starting Grade 1 was shot while walking with his parents to Holy Trinity Primary School, in Elsie's River, Cape Town.

"The pupil was caught in crossfire that we believe is gang-related," said Bronagh Casey, a spokesman for Western Cape education MEC Donald Grant.

She said the boy was rushed to hospital but was discharged later in the day.

In Pietermaritzburg, five pupils aged between five and 12, who were sitting in the back of a bakkie on the way to school, sustained minor injuries when the bakkie collided with another vehicle.

The chairman of National and Professional Teachers of SA, Basil Manuel, said that some parents in the rural areas of Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and North West waited until yesterday to register their children at a school.

"Walks-ins are still happening. Parents in the rural areas haven't bought into the idea of pre-registration," said Manuel.

The spokesman for the KwaZulu-Natal education department, Muzi Mahlambi, said: "We did have parents searching for places for their children on the first day back at school but fewer than in previous years."

Western Cape mother Barbara Chalmers said her family had moved to Belville in August and the nearby schools had turned away her Grade 9 son. She said she had tried for months to contact the Western Cape education department but her child had still not been placed.

Casey said: "In many cases, parents have enrolled their children at two or more schools.

"Therefore spaces become available for children who are on the waiting lists or are looking for placement at a school."

Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe and Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga visited Oracle Ponelopele Secondary School, in Johannesburg, which p roduced Gauteng 's top matric pupil, Praise Ndebele.

Motlanthe told pupils: "I advise you to never do tomorrow what you can do today. We live in an unequal society and the country needs your skills, so equalise yourself with education."

Motshekga urged the class of 2014 to improve its matric pass rate to 100%.

Grade 12 pupil Nkosinathi Mchunu, 18, said he was looking forward to the new academic year and was determined to maintain the standard of the school.

Mchunu added: "I'm going to start today. It's going to be books all day, every day."

Manuel said there had been more visits to schools by MPs and MECs than usual "because it is an election year".