NEWS & ANALYSIS

About 8 000 Gauteng pupils still not placed – Lesufi

MEC promises that places for remaining pupils will be found by end of month

About 8 000 Gauteng pupils still not placed - Lesufi

9 January 2019

About 8 000 pupils in Gauteng have not yet been placed in schools, Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi said on Wednesday at the opening of a school in Tsakane.

"We had 24 000 [pupils who were not placed] by yesterday (Tuesday). Of the 24 000, this morning almost 11 700 were given spaces and they went in classrooms and have started to learn," he said.

He promised that the remaining pupils would be placed by the end of January.

"There will be no single learner that will be at home in Gauteng," he vowed.

However, Lesufi reiterated his appeal to parents to apply on time.

"Parents must apply on time. You cannot come today and expect your child to be placed in a classroom the next day. It's impossible. Here in Gauteng, we do not use a chalkboard. When a child comes in, we have to register their name, find a tablet for them and load their subjects," he said.

Infrastructure Development MEC Jacob Mamabolo and others government officials opened Menzi Primary School.

Lesufi spoke at the opening and said: "We are happy ... that since we came in 2014 under the leadership of our premier, we have been opening this kind of school. Every month we have been opening a new school and thanks to MEC Mamabolo."

Lesufi said schools such as Menzi Primary School were schools of the future and said parents from other provinces were considering Gauteng.

"Yesterday we had almost 7 000 new parents who have not even applied, who came to our offices and said they want to come to Gauteng," he said.

News24