Thousands of Gauteng learners not placed in schools
With schools opening on Wednesday, Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi said there are more than 16 800 learners in Gauteng that could not been placed in schools for the 2016 academic year.
Lesufi briefed the media in Johannesburg on his department's state of readiness ahead of schools opening and says that the nu,ber of learners not place in schools could climb to 20 000.
"This is due to new applications new applications, relocations, lack of space of in the schools and influx that are coming from other provinces," he said.
Lesufi said that the Johannesburg and Tshwane regions were the most affected, accounting for 10 400 learners that were not placed.
He said he was confident that the department would resolve the issue by the first week of February.
"The district offices are going to be the areas where parents must register. We discourage parents to go directly to schools," he said.
As a last resort, Lesufi said they might look at a two shift system where learners can't be placed.
"We'll have learners placed in one shift and learners coming later and use the school halls and community centres as a learning area, but this is an option that will be the last option. It's not something we encourage, it's not something we will implement immediately," he said.
(File photo: Gallo Images)