More than 90 000 learner applications processed

The Gauteng Provincial Government officially launched the 2018 online admissions for Grades 1 and 8 on Tuesday.

Gauteng Premier David Makhura and MEC Panyaza Lesufi started with a blitz as early as 6am and proceeded to assist parents at one of the admission centres in Orange Farm, south of Johannesburg.

The department said it was pleased with the success of the online application system and humbled by the overwhelming response by the people of Gauteng.

The feedback from the parents who either used the system or went to an admission centre to apply online, was said to have been generally positive.

Within 20 minutes of opening, over 16 000 parents had successfully applied online. By lunchtime, 90 984 applications had been processed.

The department urged all parents who do not have access to the internet to visit one of the 65 admission centres across Gauteng. The centres opened at 8am on Tuesday. Parents also have the option of visiting community libraries and Thusanong centres in Gauteng.

The department has identified a few minor problems, namely:

1. Parents being told that their details already exist. Parents were advised to reset their passwords.

2. Parents receiving error messages while applying. This might have been caused by network problems in the area in which parents are applying. Parents are advised to refresh the system by pressing F5 or reboot. Technicians are examining the cause of the problem.

3. Parents receiving an SMS without the reference number. A new SMS will be generated and sent to the affected parents.

However, most of these issues have been resolved. Problems were resolved swiftly as soon as parents alerted the department.

Parents are urged to use Google Chrome to access the online website as is it faster than other search engines.

The department’s call centre is currently offline and the network is down due to a fire that occurred over the weekend in its office at 111 Commissioner Street.

The Gauteng Department of Education made the following changes to the system:

• Increased capacity to handle at least 150 000 concurrent applications per minute.

• The application process was reduced to a once-off process rather than a two-step process of registering a profile and then applying a week later. This has made the system user-friendly.

Parents are reminded to submit their documents to the school within seven days. If documents are not submitted within the stipulated period, the application cannot be completed.

Parents who have not yet applied for Grades 1 and 8 must do so as soon as possible. The closing date for applications is June 12 at midnight. The placement of learners will start on July 24.

Parents with learners in Grades 2 to 7 and Grades 9 to 11 are reminded of re-enrollment at the school.