The system where the Department of Education places a child automatically in a school nearest to their homes has proven not to be as seamless with less hassles as it is supposed to be, in other instances.
This has been confirmed in a clip shared by a woman from Pretoria North on her TikTok with the username @kwit_kwitani, where she angrily shared that her child who is meant to start grade 1 this year has been applied for and accepted in an Afrikaans school.
In the video she can be seen driving while venting, and it is later shown that she was driving from the child’s new school.
She further explained in the video that the school is not just an Afrikaans school that teaches in English, all subjects are taught in Afrikaans except for English. And her child can only speak English. Frustrated by this, she shouts and swears at the department in the video.
“What am I going to do with a child who only studied English in an Afrikaans school,” she said.
@kwit_kwitani♬ original sound – Kwit-Kwit
In reply to one of the comments about this matter, the frustrated mom took out the forms from the new school where everything was written in Afrikaans.
@kwit_kwitani Replying to @mandaha livhu ♬ original sound – Kwit-Kwit
Responding to another comment on the original video, the lady attempts to speak Afrikaans but ends up speaking Tshivenda.
@kwit_kwitani Replying to @Shan America ❤️ ♬ original sound – Kwit-Kwit
In the comment section, TikTok users were split in half with different opinions.
One user said: “Go to the Department of Education in your town and explain the matter, and they will have to assign you someone who handles such cases, then get all his papers and go to your preferred school.”
While another one said: “Don’t remove him from the school. He’ll decide when he goes to high school if he wants to change to English. But let him learn the language and be fluent. Knowing that language can be an advantage.”
Also see: The cost of 2025 school supplies leaves parents with a headache | Bona Magazine