Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said the trend of aggrieved parents to barr their children from attending school is rapidly spreading in communities across South Africa.
Parents at schools in Port Elizabeth's Northern Areas have kept their children out of the class room for the past two weeks because of a host of grievances with the Basic Education Department.
Motshekga told reporters in Pretoria on Friday that despite the numerous problems in the education sector, parents should not use their children to hold government at ransom by keeping them at home.
She said she was making a humble appeal to parents to let the Department solve its problem without compromising their children's education
Motshekga added that supplementary examinations this year will start on February 10 and will continue until March 17.
The Eastern Cape has the highest enrolment at 22 268 with more than 82 000 candidates country wide set to write the suplementary exams.
