Opinion | Right of admission reserved

Despite policies and procedures that are implemented by education officials and schools to ensure a smooth start to the school year, the beginning of the first term is more often than not rocky and turbulent for the management and staff of many schools. Every year schools are placed in a rather invidious position by numerous challenges that include staff shortages, inadequate infrastructure, the non-delivery of learning and teaching support material (LTSM) and the non-payment of the much-needed norms and standards allocations. These challenges negatively impact on the culture of learning and teaching at this crucial time when it should be all systems go for the education sector.

In addition, another major challenge faced by schools are the problems associated with the admission of pupils; specifically, applications for admission long after the official cut-off date. The policy of most schools is that applications for admission must be done in the year before admission is sought, usually between April and October. The reason for this policy is logical and pedagogically sound.

In order to plan and prepare for the next year, class lists are drawn up and finalised before school closes in the fourth term of the preceding year. The logistics of the required number of class units, subject teachers, time-tabling, textbook and stationery, and other requirements are worked on and cannot be done at the last moment. Furthermore, once the maximum number of admissions is reached, the school cannot admit more pupils.

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However, in some instances, education department officials often instruct schools to admit more pupils than the school can accommodate, which leads to overcrowding and disciplinary problems. It is also important to note that applications for admission is only applicable for Grade 1 (primary school) and Grade 8 (secondary school). As per new regulations, the official start of formal education is now Grade R and many primary schools have Grade R classes.

If the admission processes for these grades are carried out according to the stipulated regulations, there ought to be no problems at all. However, in recent years parents seem to have forgotten there are closing dates for applications and converge in large numbers on the school campus on the first day of the term.

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