By Thapelo Molefe
Gauteng Education MEC Lebogang Maile has defended the province’s school feeder zone policy, saying it is needed to manage severe overcrowding as thousands of new learners continue to enter Gauteng’s public education system each year.
Speaking during a media briefing on Monday, Maile rejected claims that the online admissions system limits parents’ freedom to choose schools, saying the province simply does not have enough space to accommodate every learner at their preferred school.
He said Gauteng’s public schools have grown from about 1.4 million learners in 1995 to more than 2.4 million today, placing enormous pressure on existing infrastructure.
“We’ve got 50,000 people every year coming to Gauteng,” Maile said.
“As we speak today, there’s 2.4 million in public schools. This is not a small matter. We are dealing with a very, very difficult situation. It’s not easy to manage public schools in Gauteng.”
Maile was responding to concerns that the feeder zone system disadvantages learners who want to attend schools outside their communities, particularly former Model C schools.
He said no learner was prevented from applying to schools outside their area, but government had to prioritise learners who lived closest to schools because of limited capacity.
“If Bryanston High takes 1,200 learners and already has 1,400 learners, what must Bryanston High do? Continue admitting more learners because somebody has freedom of choice?” he asked.
“The next thing you’ll be writing stories that classes are overcrowded and that government is irresponsible.”
Maile also rejected suggestions that township schools offered inferior education.
“This thing of trying to create an impression that township schools are dysfunctional has to be challenged with facts,” he said.
“We can give you facts about the good work that educators who are in these schools are doing.”
The department said overcrowding remains one of its biggest challenges, with only one of Gauteng’s 15 education districts not experiencing overcrowding pressures.
Maile said overcrowding across the province currently stood at 64% and estimated that Gauteng would need about 200 new schools, at a cost of R35 billion, to address the problem.
“These are the realities. The problem is big and that’s why we are asking the public to cooperate and help us deal with the issue,” he said.
The department’s Chief Director for School Management, Mmule Madonsela, said the admissions regulations require schools to prioritise applicants who live closest to them because learners should ideally be able to walk to school.
“The regulations are saying we will prioritise applicants who live closest to the school because we want learners to walk to school. We don’t want learners to be in taxis and buses travelling long distances,” she said.
Madonsela added that parents still had several options when applying, including schools within 30 kilometres of their home, schools near their workplace and schools beyond the 30-kilometre radius, subject to available space.
She said learner placements ultimately depended on each school’s approved capacity.
“You can’t place beyond a capacity. If for Grade 8 you only have 100 spaces, you have 100 spaces and you’re going to place 100 learners. You can’t really place 200 learners,” she said.
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