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Parents distressed as thousands of learners remain unplaced in 2025

Parents distressed as thousands of learners remain unplaced in 2025
Takudzwa Pongweni
By Takudzwa Pongweni
21 Jan 2025
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Thousands of South African learners are still awaiting school placements, some despite having applications submitted well within the required timeframe.

As thousands of students across South Africa began the 2025 academic year on 15 January, many parents faced ongoing frustration as their children’s school registrations remained unprocessed.

Despite submitting applications on time, some families are still waiting for confirmation of placements, adding to the anxiety and uncertainty that has become all too familiar for many parents at the start of each new school year.

Vera Mulder-Desmore, a parent from the Western Cape, is among those caught in this frustrating limbo. Despite submitting her child’s application to a nearby school for Grade 8 well within the required timeframe, her request was denied. She appealed against the decision, only to face another rejection.

“At the moment, my child is obviously sitting at home. The school within a 3km radius of our address has also denied the application, despite the fact that we appealed and submitted our application on time,” she said.

Mulder-Desmore said the department sent a generic message stating that the appeal process had been concluded and their appeal had been denied. The department also confirmed that the schools had followed the correct procedure and advised her to speak to the district office, which she has already done.

“They told us that the catchment area was the main criterion, but I know for a fact that children from places further away than the catchment area were accepted into the school that is 3km away from us,” she said. 

“It breaks my heart to think that this child has been let down by the system and the area that we stay in is growing at an astronomical rate, yet no new schools are being built so I don’t know what’s going to happen next year,” she said.

“It is really stressful and I can’t imagine the psychological and emotional impact that it has on the child because he gets up every morning asking if the school has gotten back to me”.

2,478 Western Cape learners in limbo


Kerry Mauchline, spokesperson for Western Cape education MEC David Maynier, said the department received 124,691 applications for grades 1 and 8 placements for the 2025 academic year. As of 14 January 2025, 118,914 of these learners (98%) had been successfully placed in schools, leaving 2,478 learners (2%) still in the process of being placed. Mauchline said the number of learners for whom placement was still in progress is lower compared with the same time last year. 

“However, since the start of the year, new extremely late applications have been received for over 300 [grades 1 and 8] learners for the current school year,” she said.

Mauchline told Daily Maverick that the primary challenge with school placement delays was the province’s rapid population growth, which put considerable pressure on the education system. She said while the province was working to expand its school capacity, including building new schools and adding classrooms, budget constraints made it difficult to keep up with the increasing demand.

“Despite this, we are building more schools and extra classrooms faster than before and will continue to do so. We will continue working until we place all the learners whose parents have applied,” she said.

The ongoing influx of late applications further complicates the situation, as the department cannot predict the number, location or specific needs of late applicants, making it difficult to plan resource allocation.

Mauchline said school resource packs were being distributed to parents while they awaited placement, and once placed, class teachers would determine if any additional support was needed to ensure the learner caught up on missed class time.

“While the reality is that admissions demand will continue as the Western Cape is the fastest-growing province, we are working hard to increase the number of school places available as fast as possible,” she said. 

The next crucial date in the admissions process is the 10th-day Snap survey, which serves two key purposes; to help identify where spaces are still available for learners needing placement and to enable the department to allocate resources more effectively in areas of high demand.

She appealed to parents to ensure that they had provided their district offices with their correct contact details.

Gauteng mother turns to homeschooling


Lira Lesejane said she had resorted to homeschooling after her daughter was not placed at a school in Lenasia. 

“I am currently homeschooling her now, but I’m actually looking for a school because I want a traditional school,” she said.

Lesejane said the situation was very stressful and the department had hardly communicated with her. They also suggested placing her daughter in a Tswana-speaking school, but she declined because neither she nor her daughter spoke the language.

She said that while her child was happy, she remained uncertain about homeschooling. She has registered with South Africa’s largest homeschooling curriculum provider, Impaq, but is concerned about whether homeschooling is adequately recognised.

“I’m not happy with her being there, this could be me risking my child’s future, but I had to do something. It’s the beginning of the year, and I tried finding a school and they all just say there is no space,” she said. 

Gauteng Department of Education spokesperson Steve Mabona said they had 30,000 late applications — for grades 1 and 8. According to the department, “only applicants with complete applications, including a valid proof of home address, were prioritised” for placement.

He said 99.96% of applicants that qualified with complete applications had been placed.

Mabona said the department had allocated R207-million for the construction of 453 mobile classrooms and 73 ablution facilities. These units will be strategically placed in high-pressure areas such as Lawley, Tembisa, Eastvale and Naturena, where schools have reached full capacity.

In addition to mobile classrooms, the department plans to set up satellite schools to help reduce overcrowding. These satellite schools act as extensions of existing high-demand schools, but are located on separate sites near the main institutions. This approach has already been used in areas such as Florida High School in Johannesburg West and Theresapark Primary and Secondary Schools in Tshwane West.

Mpumalanga and Northern Cape near completion 


Mpumalanga Department of Education spokesperson Jasper Zwane told Daily Maverick that the province had between 1,000 and 2,300 students in need of placement.

Some were the result of relocations due to promotions or family circumstances, while others were late applications. Efforts were under way to finalise admissions by this Friday, with parents being advised to register their children at nearby schools to avoid transport-related issues.

Zwane said that the hardest-hit areas were the fast-growing towns, such as Mbombela which had roughly 500 learners needing placement. He said the department was working closely with municipalities to identify sites for new schools, with plans in the pipeline to build three schools in Mbombela.

When asked about catch-up programmes, Zwane said there were no such programmes for students whose education records were unavailable.

“As we place them, then we know which schools they are coming from, what is on their report cards, and we’re able to augment the time loss. If they have not been placed, we might not [have] their records,” he said. 

The Northern Cape Department of Education said learner admissions were nearing completion. They were in the process of finalising late applications received between 8 and 14 January.

The online admission system had been open for the first round of applications from 15 April to 15 May 2024. During this period, they received 24,312 applications for grades R, 1 and 8. All applicants were successfully placed when schools opened on 15 January 2025, according to spokesperson for the department Geoffrey van der Merwe. He confirmed that all late applicants had been placed.

Van der Merwe said the department had a challenge in the John Taolo Gaetsewe District, where 73 grades 1 and 8 applicants had indicated they were relocating to another area and required placement at different schools. DM

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