Johannesburg - The Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, has defended the online registration system utilised by the Gauteng province, saying even though it is not perfect, it is very necessary as it gives a clear indication of the enrolment issues.
Motshekga was addressing members of the media gathered at the Cosmo City Primary School on the first day of the school calendar on Wednesday.
She said overcrowding at schools, especially in Gauteng province, did not come with the online registration system but was there even before the system.
"Even before the online registration system, there was still overcrowding in schools. I mean, I was an MEC in this very same province. Overcrowding did not come with the online system. Even when I was MEC, there used to be problems with placing children, and what was worse was that there were no ICT programmes to track and tell us where the spaces… So this online system is able to tell us where the spaces are," the minister said.
The minister’s assertions come as parents in Gauteng have been complaining about the online registration system as thousands of Grade 1 to 8 learners were still yet to be allocated to schools on the day of the start of the 2023 academic year.
The province has seen snaking queues at some of the district offices as desperate parents tried to find spaces for their children.
On Tuesday, the Gauteng Education Department said it had placed over 290 000 grade 1–8 pupils ahead of the start of the 2023 school year, which accounts for about 99.5% of all pupils.
Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane briefed members of the media on Tuesday in Kempton Park on the progress of admission and placement of learners for the start of the year’s first term for inland schools, which begins on Wednesday.
During his report back, Chiloane promised parents that all learners who are still having difficulties getting placed would eventually be placed as the department has since procured 419 mobile classrooms and is building 219 brick classrooms to address the pressure of unplaced applications across the province.
He said the department was also expected to provide catch-up programmes for learners.
"We are aware that some parents have not yet had their children placed in schools, but we want to ensure that their children will be in school. We are working around the clock to ensure that those children are placed," he said.
The Star