Anything that comes at the compromise of children is too costly. In fact, Tata Nelson Mandela provided us, as usual, with the wisdom that “it is not beyond our power to create a world in which all children have access to a good education”.
We need to remember and pursue this as the Gauteng education department struggles, since 2016, to give parents of grades 1 and 8 learners a smooth and stress-free experience of applying online for their children’s school entrance. When former MEC for education Panyaza Lesufi established this process more than seven years ago, he sought to bridge the gap in access to “good” schools. He was met with great animosity from detractors who wanted this calibre of education to stay reserved for their kind.
However, the online application system has been marred with complications. If it’s not issues of address, it’s an influx of applications to particular schools or document upload technicalities. It has attracted criticism from parents and experts alike. This week, the department made an admission that it was still dealing with the applications for 2025 as some schools have received more applications than they can accommodate.
On Thursday, Gauteng MEC for education Matome Chiloane said a total of 293,057 placements were made, 146,385 of these offers were made for grade 1 and 146,672 for grade 8. Additionally, about 105,193 offers are awaiting acceptance by parents. The department said if a school cannot accommodate the demand, parents may get an offer for a transfer to the nearest school. As a result, experts have synthesised that more schools need to be built to make provision for the demand.
Dr Anthea Cereseto, CEO of the School Governing Body Organisation, said as long as there are not enough schools being built, the challenge would remain a headache. “If more people move to urban areas, more schools are needed in those areas. The MEC must make sure there are enough spaces and do what is necessary to provide them — this is difficult for some provinces as there is not enough money or time to build the schools needed,” Cereseto said.
However, one can argue that it is not necessarily the infrastructure that parents are chasing, but the level of service and quality of education that they seek for their children. An investment in teaching capabilities is what needs to happen to alleviate the pressure. Though established with good intentions, if the system crumbles every year, it defeats the logic that it was conceptualised around. It does not help that budget cuts are looming and teacher posts, early childhood development and other support amenities are at risk of being cut.
It was recently reported that the government has made a commitment to a 7.5% wage increase for educators, but had not put funds behind it. The Western Cape, as a result, announced it will make 2,400 teaching posts cuts this year. This is an injustice and should be done away with urgently as it is an impediment to access equitable and fair education for learners.
Meanwhile, the Gauteng education department should fix the system. After so many years, applying for entrance should be easy as shooting fish in a barrel. It is not rocket science. It is not impossible, Mandela would attest, to create access to education for children.
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