Public schools\u00a0in Gauteng may soon have a greatly reduced say in which students they admit.<\/p>\n
This is after education MEC Panyaza Lesufi published amendments to the regulations<\/a> <\/strong>relating to the Admission of Learners to Public Schools on Monday (30 July).<\/p>\n According to the regulations, a\u00a0learner may not be refused admission\u00a0on any grounds that constitute unfair discrimination, including race, ethnic or social origin, colour, gender, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language, pregnancy, HIV and AIDS status, or any other illness.<\/p>\n In addition to the above grounds, the regulations state that a student’s\u00a0financial status may no longer be a deciding factor when selecting them for admission.<\/p>\n According to the proposed amendments, a\u00a0learner may not be refused admission:<\/p>\n Admission tests have also been scrapped, while schools will also be barred from demanding confidential reports on parents\u2019 financial status to determine whether they can afford the school fees, as well as their employment details or information relating to learners\u2019 health, misconduct or behaviour that may be used to unfairly discriminate against learners.<\/p>\n Ho\u00ebrskool Overvaal<\/strong><\/p>\n The amendments follow a July Constitutional Court judgement<\/a> <\/strong>against\u00a0the Gauteng Department of Education, which found that Ho\u00ebrskool Overvaal did not have capacity to enroll English-speaking pupils.<\/p>\n In January this year, Ho\u00ebrskool Overvaal – a high school where the medium of instruction is Afrikaans – approached the North Gauteng High Court after the department attempted to place 55 pupils, who would have to be taught in English, at the school.<\/p>\n At the time, Judge Bill Prinsloo set aside the department’s decision to admit 55 pupils to the Vereeniging school, saying that the school had no capacity to receive the pupils, and could not\u00a0effectively convert to a dual medium school at such short notice.<\/p>\n In-line with this judgement, the amendments also revise what is classified as a ‘feeder zone’, and how schools determine whether they have ‘capacity’ to accept more learners.<\/p>\n Gauteng Draft Amendments to Regulations Admission of Learners July 2018<\/a> by BusinessTech<\/a> on Scribd<\/p>\n\n