Keith Blake, Ottery
On Saturday February 3, I received a disturbing plea from a community activist in the Freedom Park informal settlement in Woodlands Road Ottery, claiming that about 16 children from there have had their admission applications ignored by schools in the area.
Parents are allegedly being sent from pillar to post and not promised feedback.
I was sent three pages of names of children who want to go to school and escape from lives of poverty but can't, and their parents are worried that they will end up as beggars, criminals and gang recruits.
These allegations, if true, are a gross human-rights violation.
Western Cape Education Department spokeswoman Bronagh Hammond responds: On initial investigation, and using the names and ages provided to us by the media, we found the following:
• One of the children was already placed after applying extremely late.
• Two of the children required an assessment due to being out of school for a period of time. Attempts to contact the guardians had been unsuccessful. The children require assessment in order to be placed.
• Of the remaining children, some had been placed in schools last year and had de-registered. One child had de-registered in 2020. We could find no applications for admission for four of the children.
The list has been provided to the district, and contact is being made with the children’s representative. More details are required to ascertain the facts.
Any late applications must be made through the district office and not directly at schools.
Parents should ensure that a) their child attends school daily, and b) that they register on time.
Parents too have the responsibility to ensure their child attends school. The question remains as to why some of the children were de-registered in the first place last year.
The district is addressing the issue now that we are aware of the children and their needs.