South Africa allows undocumented migrant children to register at government schools
Published: 6/Apr/2019
Source: African Daily Voice
Johannesburg, South Africa (ADV) – The South African government this week directed public schools to provisionally enroll undocumented migrant children pending them producing the required documents within the legally prescribed three months, African Daily Voice has learnt.
The government directive, revealed in an April 4, 2019 letter written by Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga in response to complaints raised by migrants’ rights organisation, the African Diaspora Forum in February, spells new dawn for millions of migrant children, some of who have for decades been relegated to poor and sometimes unregistered private schools.
There were an estimated 1.5 million undocumented migrants living in South Africa at the end of 2016, according to a community survey by Statistics South Africa. Around 175,000 of those counted were aged 19 or under. Many more children are born in South Africa to parents without papers. Often these births are not registered because of legislative restrictions on migrant children receiving birth certificates.
Read further: https://africandailyvoice.com/en/2019/04/06/south-africa-allows-undocumented-migrant-children-register-government-schools/