No space at public school leaves mum paying thousands

By Selloane Ntshonyane

• Evah Modise planned to pay about R8,000 a year at a public school but now spends R3,500 every month on private school fees after her daughter was denied a place.

• Parents say a shortage of space at public schools is forcing families to make expensive choices just to keep their children in class.

When school applications opened in 2023, Evah Modise wasted no time.

The 35 year old mother from Soshanguve applied for a place for her daughter at Laerskool Haakdoorn, hoping she would attend a school close to home.

She submitted all the required documents as soon as applications opened.

But despite applying early, her daughter did not get a place.

The school told her it had already reached full capacity.

Modise went to the school to ask for help.

She was then referred to the district education office.

There, officials offered her daughter a place at Lesedi Primary School.

But Modise said the school was not suitable because her daughter had been learning in both Afrikaans and English at daycare.

“We planned everything around Haakdoorn because it is only about 15 minutes from our home,” she told Scrolla.Africa.

The family had budgeted carefully.

She expected to pay about R8,000 a year in school fees and around R700 a month for transport.

Instead, they had to enrol their daughter at Acudeo, a private school.

The decision came at a heavy price.

The family now pays R3,500 every month in school fees and another R500 for transport.

On top of that, they also pay for school activities such as swimming and netball.

“We were affected financially, but we did not want our child to stay at home,” said Modise.

She said paying private school fees has placed extra pressure on the family’s monthly budget, but they felt they had no other option.

Modise hopes more classroom space will be created at public schools so that other parents do not face the same difficult choice.

For her, every parent deserves the chance to send their child to a nearby public school without being forced to spend thousands of rand they cannot afford.

Pictured above: Evah Modise says she was forced to enrol her daughter in a private school after failing to get a place at a nearby public school.

Image source: Supplied.