Parliament summons Gauteng and Western Cape over perennial school placement crisis

The Gauteng and Western Cape education departments are set to be called before parliament to explain the perennial problem of learner placement.

Snaking queues of parents are seen outside schools and district offices every year.

Chairperson of parliament’s basic education committee Joy Maimela said the legislature wants to understand the reasons for the space shortage.

On Tuesday, Basic Education Minister Siviwe Qwarube told the National Assembly that inward migration is impacting the ability of the department to cater for the numbers.

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During a briefing at parliament on Thursday, the chairperson of parliament’s basic education committee Joy Maimela appealed to provincial education departments to make sure they were ready to start teaching and that all support systems like transport and feeding schemes were in place.

She said the committee is unhappy to learn that the reports of learners at some no-fee paying schools are allegedly being withheld because their parents have not assisted in fundraising activities.

Maimela has also expressed displeasure that learners at such schools are also allegedly being required to buy stationery.

"Participation in fundraising is voluntary, and learners must never be punished for their socio-economic circumstances," said Maimela.

She added that persistent placement problems, particularly for grades 1 and 8, must be ironed out ahead of the academic year.

"There ought to be better planning. It can’t be that every year we know in January we have 5000 unplaced learners. We should know in December and by Januar,y we should have a plan in place on how we are going to accommodate those learners," said Maimela.

Maimela says the committee is also concerned by the delays in the delivery of learning materials to schools in KwaZulu-Natal.