Education department clears up grade 1 Covid ‘vaccination report’ confusion

The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) has issued a statement regarding the apparent confusion about a vaccination report being one of the documents required for prospective Grade 1 learners during the 2022 Online Admissions application period.

“The ‘vaccination report’ mentioned in the 2022 Online Admissions presentation does not refer to the Covid-19 vaccination. Instead, it refers to an immunization card which is a record of immunizations (inoculations/injections) and growth rate given to mothers when their infant is born and it’s used to monitor the development of the child until they are 5 years old,” said the department in a statement.

“We are aware of the confusion that might have been caused by using the term ‘vaccination’ instead of ‘immunization’,” added the department.

The education department went on to state that although these terms are related in that they both involve inoculation/injection, “we agree that they carry different meanings, especially within the context of the pandemic we are currently facing.”

The department urged parents and guardians who will be applying for their children for Grade 1 in Phase 2 to upload or submit their child’s immunization card accordingly.

The announcement regarding the immunisation cards was made on Sunday morning during a media briefing spearheaded by Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi.

Lesufi announced that online applications for Grade 7 learners heading to Grade 8 will open on 10 August. 

Applications for Grade 1 and Grade 8 learners will, for the first time, be introduced in a phased approach, to ensure the system is not overloaded, and that every application is successful. 

The first phase will close at midnight on 3 September.

Phase one is aimed at Grade 7 learners entering Grade 8 in public schools. Once these learners are accommodated, applications will be made available to those outside the public education system.  

The second phase will start on 13 September and will close on 8 October at midnight. 

Phase two is for Grade 1 learners, applicants from outside Gauteng, and learners applying to transition from private to public schools. 

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Compiled by Kaunda Selisho, additional reporting by Nica Richards