A single mom from Happy Valley says her 13-year-old daughter is stuck at home and unable to attend school as she could not get placement at three schools close to home.
Mom Nolukhanyo Sombo, 41, says her daughter was set to start Grade 8 this year and she made applications at various schools, including Malibu High School, Blackheath High School and Silversands High School in March last year, but she was not accepted.
Sombo explains: “My daughter is still at home. We were told that she was not accepted at Malibu High School because of her mathematics marks. She needed a code 4 but got a code 3, but I don’t know about the other schools.
“The education department got her placement at West Bank High School, but it is very far from home. If she attends that school, she needs to pay R80 a day because she needs to take four taxis a day.”
The worried mom says her younger daughter, who is in Grade 2, got placement at Eerste River Primary School and she has to pay R800 from a social grant to get just one child to school.
Western Cape Education Department spokesperson, Bronagh Hammond, says Malibu High School received approximately 2 000 applications for just under 400 spaces.
Hammond says: “The parent has been offered a place at West Bank High School. Unfortunately, we cannot always ensure that a parent gets into their school of choice. Some schools received more applications than others.”
Hammond also says the distance between the schools are the same.
Hammond says: “The parent had applied to Malibu as one of her schools of choice, which according to our records, is exactly the same distance from their recorded address to West Bank.”
However, Sombo says Malibu High School is within walking distance, while her daughter would be forced to travel to Kuils River and then Wesbank.
Sombo says: “Malibu is within walking distance. Wesbank is far and dangerous and she must take a taxi to Kuils River and another one to Wesbank there is no other option.”