Johannesburg – The DA says several learners will miss the first day of the 2018 academic year due to a registration backlog.
 
The party visited two admission centres – the Gauteng department of education Johannesburg South District Office and the Johannesburg Central District Office, on Saturday.

The centres were opened to assist thousands of parents to register their children for the academic year.

Parents were queuing at the application centres, hoping their children would be placed in a school.

These included new applicants, those who have applied and have not yet received any confirmation about placement and those that applied in 2017 and were given spaces, but are not happy with their schools.
 
DA Gauteng shadow MEC for education Khume Ramulifho said the department had to find a balance to ensure that placements at schools are distributed.

“Some schools have no space available, while some schools were declared full from day one of online registration. The biggest challenge is the lack of excellent schools hence the demand for enrolment in those few schools of excellence that are performing well,” Ramulifho said.

Ramulifho has called on Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi to create more high performing schools by resourcing underperforming schools with adequate infrastructure which included, sporting facilities, well equipped libraries and laboratories and qualified teachers.
 
“By so doing it will enable those underperforming schools to compete with those which have a legacy of excellence; this will then change the perception of the parents when selecting schools for their children.”
 
He said an inadequate campaign drive and poor communication with parents about online registration had resulted in the backlog of many unplaced learners.
 
He had urged parents to accept any available placement of their children.

Gauteng education department could not immediately comment.

Lesufi is expected to visit the centres on Sunday.