Police and private security had to be called at a Pretoria school after frustrated parents stormed the administration block demanding the school to enrol their children.
Chaos at Laerskool Danie Malan in Pretoria North broke out yesterday morning as parents, who claimed to have applied for their children to be enrolled at the school last year, came in numbers after they were told on Tuesday that their children had been placed elsewhere.
Private security had to be called to remove the parents from the school's offices, and by lunchtime they had been pushed out of the gates. They also used their bodies to block the streets outside the school, preventing movement of traffic.
Lizzy Sebola from Wonderboom said they will go to the school everyday until their children are admitted.
“This is an issue that has been there and every year it's the same story and they place our kids in schools we did not apply for. It is unacceptable because children are being denied their constitutional right [to attend school],” she said.
Meanwhile, about 40km away at Ivory Park Secondary School in Midrand, scenes of agony and frustration played out yesterday as parents complained about their children being placed in schools far from home.
Just before 10am, a group of about 40 parents and their children dressed in uniform stood outside the school seeking answers from the principal as to why their children were placed at David Makhubo Secondary School in Kaalfontein, about 4km from Ivory Park.
The principal was heard telling the parents that “there is no space available for grade 8 pupils’’ as that school was at full capacity. He urged parents to take their complaints to the district offices in Fourways, northern Johannesburg.
The parents arrived at the school as early as 6am to plead their cases.
A fuming Ntombomzi Ngejane, 50, said it would be impossible for her child,13, to enrol at David Makhubo, which is far from where she lives.
“My child lives in Ivory Park and the school [Ivory Park Secondary School] is right at our doorstep. Why should my child attend a school that is in another area? I will not allow that,” said Ngejane.
Xoli Sibiya, 54, said it would be financially costly for her and physically tiring for her child to attend David Makhubo.
Sibiya, who is unemployed, said she did not have money to pay for transport for her child.
“For my child to go there (David Makhubo) means I should pay R500 for transport, which I can’t afford. It will take my child almost an hour to get there on foot and it's not safe. My child will be tired by the time he arrives in class,” said Sibiya.
Sharon Chisane, 33, a parent, called for abolition of the online school application system.
“Some parents are not working. Registering through the online system needs data and sometimes we are unable to complete our applications because data runs out,” said Chisane.
On Monday, Gauteng education MEC Matome Chiloane said 1,384 grades 1 and 8 pupils across Gauteng had not been placed in schools due to capacity issues triggered by the influx of people from other provinces.
He said the department had received 4,801 appeals from parents objecting to the placement of their children in particular schools.
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