The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) are demanding that the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) finalise the placement of learners in schools within 24 hours.
The EFF is claiming that over 2,000 learners in Gauteng have already missed almost two months of school, as they are yet to be placed.
"We come here today to actually compel the Department of Education in Gauteng to place them [the learners] within 24 hours," said one members of the EFF.
The political party says that the unplaced learners are being denied basic access to education, thus the reason for group's demonstration outside the GDE's precinct. However, the GDE disputes this claims and says all learners who were on the waiting list have been placed at schools.
Parents and guardians were also in attendance at the EFF's gathering, joining the political party in demanding that their children be prioritized. "It will be three months without schooling for my grandchild and I'm afraid he'll start using drugs and [misbehaving]," said one concerned guardian.
Even though the GDE has denied the EFF's claims, the Department has confirmed that overcrowding at public schools in urban areas is a problem that exists.
"We have 80 learners in a class, some have 70, we are overpopulated. What we did was increase capacity in some schools, but in some schools, to a certain extent, you could increase capacity but you could not go further; hence, we've decided to rather have overcrowded schools than having children sitting at home," said Steve Mabona, GDE Spokesperson.
The Department says it is working hard to allocate resources to schools that are under pressure in the province of Gauteng.
Schools located in inland provinces reopened on Wednesday, 11 January 2023. In January, just before schools reopened, more than 1,000 Grade One and Grade Eight learners were still in need of placement at the time.
