<div dir="ltr"><h2 class="">Schools' fury over online admissions mess</h2><div class=""><div class="">
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<h3>Related News</h3>
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<a href="http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2016/04/14/Online-only-despite-mess">
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<a href="http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2016/04/14/Online-only-despite-mess">Online only, despite mess</a>
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<a href="http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2016/04/13/Queue-up-the-old-way">
<img src="http://www.timeslive.co.za/incoming/2016/04/10/application.jpg/ALTERNATES/crop_80x80/Application.jpg" alt="Queue up the 'old way'" class="" height="40px" width="40px">
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<a href="http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2016/04/13/Queue-up-the-old-way">Queue up the 'old way'</a>
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<a href="http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/2016/04/11/Parents-frustrated-at-not-being-able-to-use-admissions-website">
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<a href="http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/2016/04/11/Parents-frustrated-at-not-being-able-to-use-admissions-website">Parents frustrated at not being able to use admissions website</a>
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<p>The Federation of Governing Bodies of SA Schools has prepared its court papers for the eventuality.</p><p>The system crashed last week only hours after going online.</p><p>It could not cope with the 600 hits a second it was receiving.</p><p>Despite
the system's capacity being improved by the Gauteng department of
education in the past week, the site was still malfunctioning hours
before its launch late last night.</p><p>But from today at 8am all Gauteng parents who want a place for their child starting high school or in Grade 1 must apply online.</p><p>A
Parkhurst parent who asked not to be named, fearing reprisal, said:
"It's a nightmare, this system. It keeps crashing and allocates kids to
schools not close to where they live."</p><p>Parents apply for the most
sought-after schools on a first-come, first-served basis - leading to
worries that if the system fails they might not get a place for their
child at their preferred school.</p><p>On Friday the Federation of
Governing Bodies of SA Schools wrote to the education department
demanding that it allow parents the option of queueing at schools.</p><p>"We
have been given no assurance - or any confidence - that the site will
work after last week's crash," said federation CEO Paul Colditz.</p><p>He said schools were receiving many complaints about children being allocated to schools 70km from where their parents work.</p><p>The
Times spoke to parents from Parkhurst, Rosebank and Weltevreden Park
whose children had been allocated to schools in Alberton, more than an
hour's drive from homes.</p><p>Department spokesman Oupa Bodibe said:
"We are aware of problems with the website. We are fixing GPS
co-ordinates. We are aware of system bugs. The serious ones will be
fixed when the site goes live," he said.</p><p>The federation also
complained that the imposition of an online system discriminated against
parents without internet access or the money to pay for the service of
an internet cafe.</p><p>The president of the National Professional
Teachers' Organisation of SA, Anthea Ceresto, said the union supported
any project that reduced inequality.</p><p>"But it believes this online
system is a first-world solution South Africa is not ready for yet. It
will further entrench inequality."</p><p>The federation is upset that parents cannot choose a school based on their language preference.</p><p>Many
parents trying to apply for Grade 1 at Weltevreden Park Primary, in
Randpark Ridge, complained that they were allocated Afrikaans schools by
the system.</p><p>One who spoke to The Times said her husband was British and could not speak Afrikaans.</p><p>They
wanted their child to go to an English-medium school and hoped to be
accepted at Weltevreden Park Primary. But the site was only allocating
schools that taught in Afrikaans.</p><p>The mother of two could not afford the private schools in the area, which cost between R4200 and R5000 a month.</p><p>"If
I don't get a place at Weltevreden Park Primary, I will have to home
school my child. I would rather queue for three days than deal with
this."</p><p>The Schools Act allows governing bodies to have the final
say on language policy. The federation is concerned that the online
registration system will force schools to change their language policy,
usurping the power of governing bodies.</p><p><a href="http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2016/04/19/Schools-fury-over-online-admissions-mess">http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2016/04/19/Schools-fury-over-online-admissions-mess</a><br></p></div><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
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