After paying a visit to the North West and Free State Provincial Education Departments, the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education reported low late applications for Grade 1 and Grade 8 in two Provincial Education Departments (PEDs).
In two inland PEDs (North West and Free State), it had been revealed that most Grade R learners had been admitted for school by 7 July 2024, whilst the total placement for Grade 1 had reached 119 439 and there had been 33 906 unplaced learners in total.
Taking a closer look at Grade 1 and Grade 8 applications received, early applications outweighed late applications in these two PEDs.
When inland schools reopened for the first quarter of the 2024 school year, there were 217 Grade 1 and 1068 Grade 8 learners that were unplaced learners.
One of the coastal PEDs, i.e. the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) recorded 154 Grade 1 and 722 Grade 8 new applications that had been registered by the eight District Admission Teams during this time.
Additionally, there were 1 976 learners who requested transfers to other schools within the Western Cape province.
In a statement, the Committee shared:
There were concerns regarding the large number of learners who struggled to find placement in the province.
This Committee also queried the contributing factors for this issue and how was WCED addressing the matter.
It had been said that the National Treasury as there was an ongoing lack of stable baseline budgets for provinces.
The Portfolio Committee recommended that WCED ought to engage with the National Department of Basic Education, and the National Treasury on its ongoing challenges with admissions and placement of learners
