The current schools’ admission policy is failing our children on yet another level

As the 2024 school year officially kicks off, it is met with excitement by many learners and parents as they contemplate the next phase of their children’s education. Sadly, this is not the reality for all learners, especially those who have left primary school and are on the verge of entering the secondary phase of their education.

Too many Grade 8 learners across the country still have no idea where they will start their secondary education or in fact, when they will do so.

The current school’s admission policy, which was intended to streamline the process, appears to have the opposite effect. Children living close to schools in their area are still without placement, while other children who live further away have been afforded places for 2024.

Additionally, children who have been accepted to, for example, five schools, but omitted to decline the unwanted offers, leave the online system clogged up as those who were not accepted at all have to wait for schools to determine whether all the places offered will be filled as the school year starts.

This begs the question: where are things going wrong? The Department of Education seems to be blaming schools and schools are in turn blaming the department. And what about those parents who never bothered to decline unwanted offers? With seemingly no one at fault or being held accountable, where does this leave unplaced learners?

Read more in Daily Maverick: ‘Oh, all the schools are full’ – The frustrating wait for a place in class is real

The right to education is firmly entrenched in section 29(1)(a) of the Constitution. As part of this right, it is generally accepted that children should be provided with education opportunities to better not only themselves but society at large.

It is further accepted that access to education is in a child’s best interests. The right entrenched in section 29 is additionally confirmed in the South African Schools Act of 1996 which provides that all children between the ages of seven and 15 are compelled to attend school. This category generally includes children entering high school.

But what happens to those rights and interests when a child is denied admission to a public school in their area and parents simply do not have the resources to afford private schooling? Should we just overlook these children’s constitutionally protected rights?

If we do, we fail our children.

Parents trying to get placement for their children, wait outside of Bloekombos Secondary School on 18 January, 2024. (Photo: Shelley Christians)