17 January 2025
The Federation of Unions of South Africa (FEDUSA) strongly condemns the Gauteng Department of Education’s (GDE) learner admission system for grade 1 and 8. Every year, parents and guardians face frustratingly long queues and uncertainty in their attempts to secure appropriate school placements for their children.
FEDUSA also stands in solidarity with its education sector unions, in their concerns regarding the Department of Education’s lack of readiness, particularly in KwaZulu-Natal province. These concerns include inadequate learning and teaching support materials, insufficient post provisioning norms, placement challenges, and infrastructure deficiencies.
Over 37,000 Grade 1 learners and 75,000 Grade 8 learners in South Africa remain unplaced for 2025, with Gauteng leading in numbers.
While the GDE claims to prioritize placements based on proximity to home address, siblings already attending the school, and feeder zone criteria, many parents still struggle to place their children in nearby schools. It is illogical for children to be placed far from home when they applied on time for schools in their vicinity. Additionally, placing siblings in different schools creates a significant inconvenience for parents, especially given the current economic hardships in the country.
Concerningly, learners without placements are at a disadvantage, missing out on valuable learning time and adapting to their new school environment alongside their peers.
The Department of Education must urgently address challenges affecting school readiness for 2025 and beyond. Prioritizing these issues is important to ensure a smooth start to the academic year and to safeguard the quality of education.