While some parents in Gauteng are looking forward to the opening of schools on Wednesday, others are frustrated because their children have not been placed.
On Monday, parents queued at department of education district offices in Braamfontein and Northriding hoping to find places for their kids before the first day of school. While some were attended to by the department’s officials, others were sent home as it was said they had arrived late.
A group of frustrated parents who reside in Randburg, Roosevelt Park, Northcliff, Triomf and Montgomery Park stood outside Sharonlea Primary School.
Some were looking for space for grade 8s and grade 9s who were placed at temporary schools last year. The unhappy parents told Sowetan they were shocked that it was only schools around Randburg and Randpark Ridge that were full.
Most parents said they'd applied online when registration opened in July but they had not got any responses regarding placements.
Phumi Koropo, who applied in 2021 for her son to attend Vorentoe High in Rossmore, said she lost hope in the online system.
“I applied in 2021 and my child was accepted. On the day I was going to submit documents, I discovered that his name does not appear on the school’s list. I realised that it was a mistake by the department of education. They had to place him around February in 2022 at a temporary school, JSS High School in Homestead Park, Johannesburg,” said Koropo.
“I had to apply again in 2022 for him to do grade 9 at Vorentoe and I never got a response whether he got in or not. This morning they sent me here to get assistance for my son to be placed. This is very frustrating because I applied when the department opened applications and here I am, he's still not placed.”
Violet Mmola's son was supposed to have started school at Roosevelt High.
“I am actually confused. I arrived here after 12 [noon] and they were no longer attending to us because we came late. We will be attended to tomorrow. This frustrates me because my son was doing grade 10 at Bekker near Roodepoort and I wanted to move him to Roosevelt High. I applied last year and never got an acceptance or rejection letter. I have already asked for a transfer letter from the other school. I don’t know. If he is not accepted here, will he be able to go back to Bekker?”
Other parents were busy in the last-minute rush to buy school uniforms and stationery. Shops selling uniforms around Johannesburg and Randburg were overwhelmed by large numbers.
Lee Wholesale in Joburg CBD had long queues early in the morning. Shirley Bogatsu from Protea Glen, Soweto, was among the parents who woke up early to be at the front of a long queue. Like many parents, Bogatsu came out of the shop alarmed by the high prices of uniforms, especially for girls.
“My daughter is going to Protea Glen High to do grade 8 but I am shocked at their uniform [price]. It is so expensive. For now I could only afford a tunic, jersey and socks. I will come back [later] to buy the blazer because it is too expensive.”
Pumzile Zondo from Diepkloof, Soweto, got the shock of her life when the R2,000 she had budgeted for uniforms fell short. Zondo came out of the Lee visibly shaken, shouting iyithathe yonke imali yam le uniform (this uniform took all my money).
“I came to buy uniforms for my two girls with one doing grade 10 and the other doing grade 7. Girls uniforms are very expensive. The money that that I had budgeted was just not enough. Everything is just expensive. I can't remember how much I spent last year but I know that I spent more this time.”
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