Gauteng Education MEC, Panyaza Lesufi has committed to placing all pupils by the end of the month. This is as the academic year kicks off in inland provinces. Gauteng has the second-highest number of learners in the country. The already strained education system is burdened with inward migration.
Seeing more pupils move into the area, the province needs another hundred new schools to accommodate the high demand. It saw 102 000 new pupils enter the system this year. 700 online applicants remain unplaced. But the department says it’s committed to placing every pupil.
“The 700 we need to place as the department, we’re putting firm commitment to placing them before the end of the month. Not lack of planning and lack of schools, we have a phenomenal caused choice and people wanting to come to Gauteng,” says Lesufi. It’s estimated a further 10 000 pupils are only starting the late registration process today.
“We have planned for these parents who may have not applied at all. And have left schools who have space to accommodate them,” explains Gauteng Education Spokesperson Steve Mabona.
The province has undertaken to convert temporary mobile units at schools into brick and mortar classrooms to ensure that every learner has a desk.
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the education sector with an estimated three years of curriculum lost due to the lockdown and rotational learning.
“Deeply concerned that if we do not get back to some form of normalcy and have all the children back at school will have a serious impact,” says Gauteng Premier David Makhura. This morning a new school in Sedibeng welcomed back its learners to a new improved smart facility.
Source: News365
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