The deadline for public comment on the Gauteng Education Department’s draft amendment bill on the regulations for public school admissions has been extended.
The new deadline is September 14.
Departmental spokesperson Steve Mabona said the draft amendments bill would not affect online admissions for 2019. They would apply in 2019 for the 2020 academic year.
The department wants input from parents and stakeholders on:
- Criteria for the determination of feeder zones;
- Online applications for grades one and eight; and
- Approval of school admission policy.
Civil rights group AfriForum last week objected to the draft regulations and wants them scrapped.
They objected to the termination of the role of feeder schools‚ the dilution of the role played by the school governing bodies (SGBs) and the exclusion of SGBs from determining schools’ capacity.
Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi published the draft regulations in a special Provincial Gazette on July 30.
The draft regulations allow Lesufi to determine a school’s language and admission policy. It also states no pupil may be rejected from public schools on discriminatory grounds‚ including race‚ gender‚ disability‚ belief‚ culture‚ language‚ pregnancy or illness.
It also suggests no pupils may be turned away because they‚ or their parents‚ do not subscribe to the mission statement of the school and the code of conduct.
The amendments also propose that when a pupil applies for admission‚ the school may not request information from the pupil’s current school about their health or their parents’ finances.
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