About 12-million schoolchildren were expected to begin their new year of study on Wednesday, the Department of Basic Education said.
And, just more than 1,1-million will be small children in oversized uniforms starting grade one.
“We are hoping that the majority of schools would have started this morning with learning and teaching,” said spokesperson Granville Whittle.
Schools usually submit a report on the intake on the 10th day of school, so accurate figures will be available then, but in the meantime, the department has set up task teams at various schools throughout the country to cope with the arrival of pupils whose parents have not yet registered them or confirmed a place.
“In urban centres, the biggest problem is that parents don’t register their children early — between June and October of the previous year. The parents still pitch up on the first day,” he said.
To manage this, the task teams will be in place to tell the parents that a school is full.
“If a school is full, it is full. It is dangerous to learners if there is massive overcrowding. We must balance the constitutional right to education with those dangers. We must make sure they are placed or provide additional classrooms.”
Meanwhile, many of the problems reported to the department were of schools damaged by the severe summer storms, particularly in Mpumalanga, North West, Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal.
The schools have opted for mobile classes while repairs are arranged, but in KwaZulu-Natal delays in their delivery meant that some pupils will be taught in tents.
Whittle said that in the Western Cape about 20 schools were broken into and vandalised during the holidays, so staff would have to clean those classrooms out and repair damage.
Ninety-nine percent of textbooks and stationery had been delivered to schools, but there were some delays in Limpopo and the Eastern Cape which should be resolved by later on Wednesday.
“Other than that we are rather optimistic. We are hoping that the majority of schools would have started this morning with learning and teaching.”
Provincial education ministers were fanning out in their provinces, visiting schools, while Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe and Deputy Minister of Basic Education Enver Surty visited Mpheko High School in Mthatha to assess readiness.
Whittle said if a school was not ready, parents were encouraged to report this to the district education office.
Whittle said parents who were not able to pay fees were entitled to apply for an exemption on forms provided by either the principal or the school governing body, and from this year the school is compensated with R740 per pupil granted exemption.
He said that schools are not allowed to force parents to pay a registration fee, nor turn a child away if their parents cannot afford to pay. — Sapa