The Department of Basic Education (DBE) has flagged several concerns with the Western Cape Education Department’s (WCED) pupil admissions system, including finding that “only African and Coloured pupils” appeared on waiting lists collected from schools in the province.
The findings were presented to Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Basic Education on Tuesday as part of a follow-up engagement into allegations of racial profiling and discrimination in pupils’ admissions in the province.
The matter has been under scrutiny for several years and is currently the subject of ongoing legal proceedings.
In November last year, the Western Cape High Court found aspects of the WCED’s pupils’ admissions system unconstitutional and discriminatory against black, poor, and marginalised pupils.
The provincial department has since appealed the judgment.
Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Basic Education subsequently requested both the national and Western Cape education departments to investigate the allegations and provide feedback on their findings.
Admissions system under scrutiny
In its preliminary findings, the DBE said the Western Cape admissions system does not place pupils directly and allows schools to use their own criteria and discretion when making placement decisions.
It found that school governing bodies were involved in administering learner admissions in a majority of schools in the City of Cape Town educational districts.
Among the concerns raised by the department were that schools used their own selection criteria. At the same time, the province “does not appear to apply zoning or the use of residential address for pupil placement”.
The DBE further found that “the right of parents to select schools appears to take precedence against the right of deserving pupils who may be disadvantaged by the discriminatory placement of other pupils”.
“School Governing Bodies appear to play an active role in the decisions of placing pupils, which is an administrative and not a governance function”.
Waiting lists raise concern
The most concerning finding related to pupils who were not admitted to schools.
Schools cited physical space constraints and parents paying additional school fees to keep class sizes smaller.
“These learners were forced to find schools outside their area of residence despite available spaces in the school.
“Only African and Coloured pupils appeared in the collected waiting lists.”
The DBE further found that provincial officials generally became involved only after pupils had not been placed, and then negotiated alternative placements.
“There is no evidence of intervention on pupils placement (letters to instruct schools to review their placement decisions),” the DBE said.
Questions over selection criteria
The DBE’s review of school admissions policies found that some schools considered factors such as:
- academic performance,
- interviews and tests,
- scoresheets used to select top pupils,
- proof of employment and
- unabridged birth certificates.
The department’s analysis of application forms further found that schools requested information relating to participation in sport, leadership roles, and photographs of pupils.
This was slammed by the DBE, which found that this should be excluded from the selection criteria
“No admissions may be undertaken in a manner that unfairly discriminates against learners,” it noted.
WCED cites pending court appeal
Responding to questions about the findings during the parliamentary engagement, Western Cape Education MEC David Maynier said the province could not discuss the matter in detail because it remained before the courts.
“In respect of the judgment, the judgment, as members know, is suspended. The judgment is before the court, and we are awaiting a judgment in relation to our application for leave to appeal, and that is why we say the matter is sub judice,” Maynier said.
The DBE stressed that its findings remain preliminary and are still being verified with provincial education departments before a final report is submitted to Parliament.
