Equal Education heads to court over WC school placements for grades 1 & 8

CAPE TOWN - Equal Education says it has been flooded with pleas for help from Western Cape parents whose children have not been allocated a placement for 2025.
 
This comes after the provincial education department issued a statement last week indicating that applications for admissions to grade 1 and grade 8 for 2025 have closed.
 
The education advocacy group said its attempts to address the issue with the department had been unsuccessful and it has decided to take the matter to the courts.
 
Equal Education said it had found, over the years, that most pupils who weren't placed in a school, were pupils from disadvantaged areas.
 
It added that the provincial education department had not been able to address system issues affecting online applications.
 
According to the lobby group, many parents had not been able to access the department's website.

It has filed an urgent application, asking the court to order the department to place pupils who had not been allocated to a school for next year.
 
Meanwhile, department spokesperson, Kerry Mauchline, said they'd received over 4,000 late applications which were still being considered.
 
"These applications are currently being considered by schools, and parents will start receiving their outcomes of applications from the 30th of May 2024."
 
Mauchline would not comment on the merits of the court matter but indicated that the department would oppose the application.