Gauteng Education Dept assures parents their children will be placed at a school

After spending the first day of school at district offices, desperate for placement, the Gauteng Department of Education has assured parents that their children will be placed at a school.

On Wednesday, while most parents accompanied their grade one and eight children to school for their first day, some were stuck at district offices for the day.

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The school system in Gauteng is under pressure, with the number of children surpassing the places available.

After missing a milestone moment for their children on what was meant to be the first day of school, parents of pupils who have not been allocated a school left the Morningside district office visibly concerned and disappointed.

While some have been asked to give the department 10 days to find schools for them, others have been asked to come back on Friday.

Angry parents surrounded Gauteng Education spokesperson Steve Mabona, demanding answers.

But Mabona insisted that there is a plan, saying that, as they have done previously, they will set up temporary classrooms in some schools.

“Then once their satellite school is opened, then we move all of them to the satellite,” Mabona added.

The satellite schools that the department speaks of are made of mobile containers.

This type of classrooms, though often set up to resemble traditional schools and are fitted with ablution facilities, have previously been rejected by some parents in the province.