Education

1.  My department has informed me of the following:

(a)

As of 24 February 2023, we have resolved 121 806, or 99.6%, of the unique Grade 1 and Grade 8 placement applications for the 2023 school year, and are in the process of placing 487, or 0.4%, of the Grade 1 and Grade 8 learners for the 2023 school year.

It is important to note that the overwhelming majority of the cases where placement is still in progress are new applicants who arrived this year.

Applications fall into three groups:

• Applications received on time before the deadline;
• Late applications received after the deadline but before the end of 2022; and
• Extremely late applications received since the start of this year.

On-time applicants:

Placement is in progress for just 19 Grade 1 and Grade 8 learners for whom   applications were received on time. The parents of these learners are either uncontactable or have rejected the offer of placement.

Late applicants (received in 2022):

Placement is in progress for 42 of the Grade 1 and Grade 8 learners for whom applications were received after the deadline for applications passed, but before the end of 2022. The majority of these were received in November and December 2022.

These learners are being prioritised at present. Unfortunately, some of the parents of these learners are also unreachable, even when we have places to offer for their children.

Extremely late applicants (received in 2023):

We have received new, extremely late applications for 4 045 Grade 1 and Grade 8 learners since 1 January 2023 for the 2023 school year, including 926 in the past month.

The challenge with late applications is that we do not know:

• how many late applications we will receive,
• where the extremely late placement will be required,
• the grades, language, and ages of the learners, and
• the specific subjects and specialised needs of the learners.

Placement of learners is therefore not straightforward as it relies on a variety of factors. This has made planning our resource allocation in advance extremely difficult.

Despite this, we have already placed 3 619, or 89.5%, of the Grade 1 and 8 learners for whom extremely late applications were received after 1 January 2023, because of forward planning and contingency resources being made available.

Placement is in progress for 426 of the Grade 1 and Grade 8 learners for whom extremely late applications were received after 1 January 2023. Of these, 180 were received since 1 February 2023, and additional applications are arriving daily.

At any given time of the year, we will always have a number of learners whose placement is in progress, because learners do move around the province and country throughout the year.

(b) Please see attached list of schools where Grade 1 and 8 learners were placed.

(2)     (a)    Transfer applicants for Grades 2 to 7 and 9 to 12 who are enrolled in a school are not “unplaced” – they wish to move to another school.

                   6 591, or 81.2%, of the 8 560 learners referred to have been transferred.

2. The remaining 1 969 Learners who applied for a transfer are in the process of being placed. 91% of these cases are transfer requests made outside the admission period. The remaining 9% of cases (174) are unreachable or have not accepted an offer of placement.

Please also note that the transfer requests include learners that are already enrolled in a school in the Western Cape but want alternative placement to another school, even within their immediate area, or at schools with better education outcomes.  We cannot necessarily accommodate all these requests, as this is based on personal choice.

There are cases which are receiving immediate attention – such as transfers from other provinces or communities due to work opportunities or other reasons.

At any given stage, throughout the school year, we will have transfer requests from parents as they move provinces or communities.

Below is the breakdown of transfer requests received in 2023. This number is expected to fluctuate throughout the year.

(3)     Transfer applicants for Grades 2 to 7 and 9 to 12 who are enrolled in a school are not “unplaced” – they wish to move to another school.

          (a)

(b)           

MINISTER OF EDUCATION

DATE: