The Western Cape High Court has mandated the Western Cape Education Department to reassess the school placement of Grade 1 twins, who have not yet begun their schooling three months into the academic year.
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THE Western Cape Education Department (WCED) says it is exploring the option to appeal a Western Cape High Court order to review the placement of Grade 1 twins.
The six-year-old boys were supposed to start their Grade 1 schooling this year, but three months into the academic year, they have yet to walk through school gates.
This comes as the WCED's on-time online school applications for the 2027 school year for Grades R, 1, and 8 opened yesterday until April 14, 2026.
In response to the High Court ruling, WCED spokesperson Kerry Mauchline said they are taking legal advice on the matter.
“We have noted the judgment and are currently taking legal advice, including on the potential for appeal,” said Mauchline.
The guardians of the twin boys applied for placement at three primary schools - Mikro, De Kuilen, and Bastion - in the Metro East Education District, but were not placed at any of these schools due to them being oversubscribed.
They were informed that the twins would be placed at Rouxville Primary School, also in the Metro East District - a school they had not applied to.
Having appealed to Mikro for placement, on September 18, 2025, the guardians were informed by the WCED that the twins could not be placed at their schools of choice as the schools are ‘oversubscribed’.
Probed about what the WCED and circuit managers would do to ensure that, despite the late start, the pupils will meet academic requirements, Mauchline said: “Any learner who joins a school after the start of the year receives support from their school.
“Our biggest challenge remains parents applying late. Applying on time helps the WCED to plan for additional school places in areas of high demand. We have engaged in an extensive advocacy campaign and made multiple points of assistance for parents available this year.”
The court judgment noted: “They (guardians) preferred Mikro – as their older son was enrolled there for Grade 7 – but also applied at De Kuilen as their daughter is in De Kuilen High School and at Bastion because it is on the way to Paarl, where the first applicant works.
“The family only has one car, and the second applicant usually fetches the children in the afternoons using public transport. Mikro and De Kuilen are near one another, and Bastion is not much further away. The family does not have substantial means and lives in a high-crime area. It is important for them, from a financial and safety perspective, to have the children in the same schools or schools that are close to one another.”
The court heard that the guardians continued to engage the circuit manager in an effort to secure a place at their school of first choice, being Mikro.
Despite the continuous engagements, on January 14, 2026, they were told that there was nothing that could be done to place the twins at their schools of choice.
The WCED, in its argument, recorded that the twins have a school placement, but the guardians elected to keep them out of school without explaining why they were unable to attend Rouxville.
Noting the WCED’s answering affidavit in court documents, it read: “The (guardians) are unhappy with the placement as they find it inconvenient and their review application serves their own interests and not the twins’ best interests. The WCED’s policy regarding school placements gives effect to the Section 29 constitutional right to basic education.”
Judge Julia Anderssen ordered that the WCED and the three schools reconsider the placement applications.
“In light of what has been stated above, I am of the view that the applicants have established, on a balance of probabilities, that they only learned that the twins were placed at Rouxville on August 29, 2025, and that they were informed by the WCED of the outcome of their applications to their schools of choice on September 18, 2025.
“The Section 5(9) right of appeal would thus only have been ‘triggered’ on September 18, 2025, which is when the applicants learned that the twins had been refused admission to a public school. This was after the cut-off date for appeals to the sixth respondent (Education MEC). In my view, this was procedurally unfair.”
Cape Times