Johannesburg - They may have been just two sentences – but they struck enough of a chord for over 200 parents to spend a night camping outside a government high school nere.
“Ranked 87th school out of 67 000 in the world. Number one in Math (in Johannesburg).”
These were the words flashing in glaring red that scrolled across a board at the entrance of Northcliff High School this week. This was the reason parents came in droves to camp from about 5pm – and not just outside Northcliff High, but several Joburg schools.
At Northcliff High, through the night they lay huddled under blankets hoping for a chance to get their children registered at the school when registration for the 2014 school year began .
An official from the Gauteng Education Department arrived just after 10pm. He slated the proud boasts made by the school.
“He came here asking where the security is and what we’d do if someone came here and shot at us. But we chose to come here… He said the information at the board that it’s the top-ranked in Joburg was incorrect and that no child had the right to be turned away. He was making lots of noise.
“But as parents in the area, we are quite happy to be here. The weather is fantastic and it’s only one night out of a year to make sure your child gets into a good school,” said a woman.
One woman, her husband standing next to her, joked: “It’s our night out for some quality time.”
A group of fathers stood in line to put through applications for their daughters. Their wives were also queueing – but at Randpark Ridge High School.
The snaking queue at Northcliff High saw parents getting to know each other as they waited for dawn.
“We just need a good school for our kids,” said Janine Mcdouall who was number 31 in the line.
“We don’t have a choice, plus we’re getting to know each other, which I think is fantastic.”
But as much as there was a wonderful display of camaraderie, Mcdouall said there was no chance of her leaving her spot.
At Randpark Ridge the queues were just as long.
One parent, Lynette Morrison, had been waiting at the gate since 2pm, making sure that she was first in line to try to get her youngest son in at the school next year.
Lynette and her husband, David, already have a long-standing relationship with the school, with three of their sons having gone there.
Their youngest will be the fourth, and by the time he is in matric, they’ll have had a 20-year history with the school.
But they were worried about the growing number of people wanting their children in the school.
“I feel it’s unfair that people who stay in the area don’t get an opportunity to get in the school. They (the school) should allow 200 people from the area in first and 100 from outside.
“It’s the first I’ve ever seen a queue such as this. Apparently some parents were even fighting last year – and it’s not the school’s fault, it’s the government’s.”
Her other concern was the psychological effect should she not be able to get her children into “good schools”, and their peers did.
“Children are so vulnerable,” she said.
Just after midnight, an official at one school opened the gates to the premises, warning: “We’ll do this slowly. There’s no need to run. If you push, I push.”
And in walked the parents.
Applying for a place at Parkview Junior was a serious business – not just for the parents, but for a local coffee shop that sold hot drinks to help ease the early-morning chill.
Even the business of camping out to get a place on the first-come, first-served system had created jobs, with people being hired to reserve spots.
One father who would not give his name said he had been camping “by proxy” since 8am. He said parents needed to go to work and could not afford to camp out. When his hired camper arrived, he said there were already 25 people ahead of him.
Some parents arrived at about 6am in the hopes of securing a place.
“It’s just a fantastic school, it has a really good ethos,” said June Josephs-Langa about why she was applying for five-year-old Asante at Parkview Junior.
The dad of five-year-old twins, Peter Scullion, was surprised by how many people were ahead of him.
“I thought I’d go at 6(am) and be early,” he said, standing near the back of the queue that snaked out of the school onto the pavement outside at 8am.
Karen Cloete said this was the second time she was applying at the school as she already had an older child there.
Almost all the applications had been accepted by 8.40am.
Gauteng Department of Education spokesman Charles Phahlane said because the application process only opened this morning, a full picture of what was happening at schools was not yet known.
He said even though some schools reported long queues, the department hadn’t received any complaints as schools appeared to be managing the situation. He said even though a school might have a space for only 100 pupils, it did not have the right to decline more applications.
“They have to accept those applications and give them to us and we will be the ones looking for schools for those parents at schools in the area.” - The Star