The Gauteng Department of Education reminds parents that May 28 was the last day to apply online for their children starting Grade One and Eight next year.
As a special concession, schools will accept documents only up until 2pm on June 5, and failure to submit documents will lead to applicants forfeiting their positions in the queue.
According to the spokesperson at The Gauteng Department of Education, Steve Mabona, a total of 535 064 applications have been processed to date, since the start of the online applications on April 16, 2018.
This translates to 251 808 applications for Grade One and 283 256 for Grade Eight.
Most of these are self-applications by parents who utilised the system. Approximately 18 000 parents utilised the 37 decentralised admission centres for assistance, to apply on online.
“The Department is excited by the overwhelming response from parents and guardians who have already applied and we thank them for their co-operation.
“An unprecedented number of parents and guardians heeded the call to apply on time.
“Most of the decentralised admission centres were flooded on the first day of applications.
“A few challenges were encountered, including applicants who applied to the wrong grade, applicants who entered incorrect addresses and applicants who lost or forgot their login credentials.
“There were also technical errors when selecting ‘sibling’, delays in the provision of some reference numbers and parents who could not find their addresses, but they were immediately advised to select the ‘Can’t find address’ option which was available from the onset,” Mabona said.
- Demand exceeds space
Based on the number of applications registered to date, there are 596 schools where demand exceeds available spaces.
Some of the schools in these areas have recorded between 1 538 and 1 960 applications for either Grade One or Grade Eight.
The Top 10 high-pressure areas include Boksburg High School.
“There are 385 schools with fewer than 50 applications, 79 schools with fewer than 20 applications, and 69 schools with fewer than 10 applications.”
“These schools are all located in townships. It is concerning that in the last two years many parents in townships waited for the late application period and flooded GDE offices in January to apply for their children.
“The department is moving away from late applications and parents who did not apply online by midnight on the 28 May 2018, are running the risk of having their children out of school in January 2019,” he said.
Parents from other provinces who are planning to move to Gauteng are urged to apply online before the closing date.
- Placement process
Mabona said the placement process will start from July 18 and end on October 31.
“Parents should note that availability of space is the key determinant of how many children can be placed in a school.
“Placement will be conducted in compliance with admission criteria and on a first-come-first-served basis. During the placement period, principals will receive the approved and signed waiting lists from district directors to process offers of placement.
“Schools will send offers of placement to parents from July 18 to August 3. During this period, parents will receive SMS notifications regarding the status of their applications,” Mabona said.
Parents are to confirm offers of placement within seven working days of receipt. Parents who do not confirm acceptance and/or reject offers will forfeit the space offered.
During the period August 6 to October 31, districts will facilitate the placement of learners who could not be placed by schools.
The Gauteng Education MEC, Panyaza Lesufi, said: “We are indebted to all parents who have heeded our call and have applied in numbers; the response from the public was indeed overwhelming. We encourage those who have applied, to conform to the stipulated deadline.”
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