Cosmo City parents frustrated as GP scrambles to place pupils

Motshekga has been monitoring the start of the 2023 academic year at several schools in the province as inland schools open their gates and classroom doors to pupils. 

A frustrated parent, Zoe Khumalo claims her son has been told to return to his previous school, even though the school does not have grade 11 and 12 classes. 

Khumalo, whose son is meant to start grade 11 on Wednesday, says she’s been sent from pillar to post since the start of the week but has still not been assisted. 

Officials have been stationed at the Tirisano-Mmogo High school in Cosmo City to assist parents with their queries. 

Handing the anxious teenager a R100 note to catch a taxi to the school, Khumalo says she is now forced to leave her teenage son to try to resolve the placement issues because she is not able to take more time off work. 

“Monday, we asked for a day off from work, Tuesday we asked for another day because we couldn’t accomplish our mission. At the end of the day, we are going to get fired from work. It’s so frustrating as a parent because right now we are stuck here with no assistance," lamented Khumalo. 

Education spokesperson, Elijah Mhlanga has pleaded for patience and understanding from parents, while Minister Motshekga earlier said the placement challenges would be addressed within 10 days. 

“What we need is patience but also understanding because people enrol their children at a particular school even when they are told the school is full. In this area the district director said that there are eight schools; four primaries, and four secondary schools; and all of them don’t have an enrolment of less than 8 000 learners in eight schools. We need to therefore make sure that we work together,” says Mhlanga. 

Earlier, Motshekga said overcrowding and a lack of placements have become an annual problem that is influenced by several socio-economic factors. 

“The whole of yesterday I was dealing with parents who have moved out of Limpopo and coming  to Gauteng, others are moving from a different area but even on our side there have been problems where you find that a child went to a model C school where they were studying one language and then when they place them they look at the home address and that throws them in the area where they won’t be able to continue properly.” 

ALSO READ: School placements to be completed in 10 days - Motshekga

On Tuesday, Gauteng education MEC, Matome Chiloane told media that the provincial education department had managed to place 290 751 pupils for grade 1 and grade 8 for the 2023 academic year.