Many kids still without a school

Zandile Mbabela

AT least 90 pupils in Nelson Mandela Bay have yet to see the inside of a classroom three weeks into the new school year as they struggle to find a place in one of the city's schools.

The mass exodus of pupils from poor performing schools to those with better results and reputations has placed massive pressure on the latterschools.

On January 13, two days before the term started, schools were inundated with late applications from pupils who had failed to secure placement last year, had relocated from another area or had moved from private schools to public ones.

Parents and pupils struggling to get into schools were urged to go to district offices for help with placement.

District director Nyathi Ntsiko yesterday said they had 293 pupils needing placement and had placed 203.

"Most of those not yet placed have relocated to the city or moved from private schools to public. We had quite a lot of these," he said.

"We tried to slot them into nearby schools. But we had to also accommodate pupils who had started their schooling at English-medium schools and would struggle at other schools."