Gauteng education processes more than 161,000 online admission applications on first day

Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane on Thursday officially marked the start of the 2024 Online Admissions application period for Grade 1 and Grade 8, at Winterveldt Multipurpose Hall in Tshwane.

According to Chiloane, as of Thursday noon, 161,407 Grade 1 and 8 applications were successfully processed by the Online Admissions System.

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This reflects a slight decrease compared to 2023 where we recorded over 165,000 applications made in the same time period.

“We believe this decrease may be due to this year’s application period occurring at the start of the long weekend,” Chiloane said.

60,000 applications in first hour

Within the first hour of opening the system, 60,000 applications were received.

“We have acknowledged a challenge faced by some applicants when entering their ID numbers onto the system. The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) verification mechanism used on the Online Admissions was unable to process certain ID numbers, however, this was effectively resolved within a few minutes as we discovered applicants only had to refresh their browsers and proceed to apply successfully,” Chiloane said.

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Some parents who were applying for Grade 8 could not enter their previous schools on the system, however, it was also resolved instantly.

All previous schools are now appearing in the system for Grade 8 applicants, Chiloane.

2024 Online Admissions application period

The 2024 Online Admissions application period will continue until 14 July 2023.

Parents and guardians are urged to either upload the certified copies of the required documents onto our system, or submit them at the schools they applied to within 7 school days.

Parents are also encouraged to visit our District Offices and 80 Decentralised Walk-in Centres to be assisted with applying.

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For further assistance, applicants can call the GDE’s Contact Centre on 0800 000 789 or send a message on WhatsApp 060 891 0361.

“We are proud of the smooth start to the application period, and we are happy at the turnout of parents who used our system and succeeded in their applications. Many parents reached out to share their smooth experience when utilizing the system. Other parents also expressed that the system is faster than the previous years,” said MEC Chiloane.