Over 1400 learners in the Western Cape province are still without a school, creating a serious concern as schools across the country are halfway through Term One of the 2023 academic year.
The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) has been struggling to successfully place learners within schools since before teaching and learning for the year commenced a month ago.
As of 6 February 2023, 1 476 learners are yet to see the inside of a classroom.
Unplaced learners are missing out on the curriculum as well as important tests that count towards their end-of-year marks, and which determines whether they advance to the next grade or not.
Western Cape Education MEC, David Maynard, says the bulk of learners who are unplaced are due to "extremely" late applications.
"We will be working around the clock to place those learners as soon as possible, here in the Western Cape," said Maynard. But, for some parents and learners, it was not a case of missing application deadlines.
One of the 1 476 Western Cape learners, Lithitha Mbula, who was meant to start Grade Eight this year, is currently spending each day at home instead of in a classroom, even though his father "did everything by the book".
"I applied last year in March to nine different schools and not a single one accepted him. I went to the Department of Education in town and when I got there I was told my son was placed in Sir Lowry's Pass, which is too far from where my son lives in Khayelitsha," says Lithitha's father.
The scramble to find a school is a cause of great stress for parents and learners alike, and is a yearly struggle in the province.
"Last year, I remember that some Grade Eight learners only started school in June, since waiting from January," said one parent.
In the past, community members took to protest action to bring attention to the situation, but now they are choosing to approach the Human Rights Commission and Parliament for help this time around.
Maynard says that Western Cape district teams are hard at work to settle the problem, and he (along with the WCED) are hoping that it won't take months like last year, and can be resolved in a few weeks.
The Western Cape is not the only province having these troubles.
Gauteng was in the same boat, despite the provincial government extending the application period by a month to accommodate late applications.
The province has managed to find some success, even though there was the problem of more than 30 000 unplaced learners one week before schools were expected to re-open for 2023.
