Image Source: Wingu Academy
Local – According to Neeresh Badal, Chairman of Non-Profit Organisation Lets Do It 2gether 4 Education, parents are becoming so desperate to secure better schooling for their children that they are resorting to falsifying address information on admission applications.
He argued that this crisis was not simply a matter of parental dishonesty but, rather, reflected decades of structural inequality rooted in apartheid-era planning, which continues to determine which communities have access to quality education.
Badal said the desperation driving parents to falsify admission information was symptomatic of a system that had never been adequately reformed.
The uneven distribution of resources, infrastructure and teaching quality across communities had created a two-tier schooling reality that left many families with little recourse.
“What is driving this issue of false admission information is not simply dishonesty. It is fear, inequality and desperation.”
Overcrowding and Unequal Access
Badal pointed to Lenasia, south of Johannesburg, as a case study in how apartheid-era school planning had created impossible pressure on a handful of perceived better schools, drawing learners and teachers from far beyond their designated zones. The numbers, he said, told a story that was difficult to ignore.
“Nine schools have a learner population of over 18,000 learners. That’s about 2,000 learners per school, three times more than its intended capacity.”
Homeschooling on the Rise as Public System Confidence Erodes
Consequently, this loss of confidence in the public system is pushing more families to seek alternatives. As the formal school system fails to deliver safety, stability, and quality, parents increasingly turn to homeschooling, tutor centres, and micro cottage schools as more reliable options for their children.
“Home education is one of the fastest growing sectors in education, and many parents are looking at these alternatives because they feel stuck between a school they cannot access or a school that they do not trust.”
Badal cautioned that alternative education was not a universal solution, warning that cost and accessibility remained significant barriers for working-class families.
