Grade 1 and 8 school application: Gauteng Education Dept claims system is improved

Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi on Thursday claimed that the online application process for the 2023 Grade 1 and 8 school admissions has improved and there will be no excuses if the system fails.

Lesufi said the online system will be able to take 40,000 applicants at the same time.

“We can take 40,000 people simultaneously, and we can take almost 120,000 people within an hour. So we would urge parents to be ready and ensure that you are in a position to make an application.

“There must be no excuse that the system failed or the system crashed or I could not access the system. We have improved that part and we are ready for all the hackers,” said Lesufi in a media briefing on Thursday.

He said the improvements made to the system included a single application process. This will allow all applicants to apply at the same time.

The application process for grade 1 and grade 8 pupils will start on Friday at 8am and will close at midnight on 19 August 2022.

To apply, visit: www.gdeadmissions.gov.za.

Parents and guardians will receive SMS notifications of placements offers. They will need to either accept or decline those offers from 3 to 31 October 2022.

Lesufi advised parents to have reliable phone numbers while going through the five stages of the application process.

“You will see from the system when you log in, there are five stages or phases, every stage you go through, the system will send you an SMS as a parent to confirm each stage was successful, so we require parents to have a reliable number,” he said.

Parents are required to upload the following certified documents within seven days of applying:

•  Parent and child ID or passport
•  Refugee permit
•  Asylum seeker permit
•  Permanent residence permit
• Study permit
• South African birth certificate
• Proof of home address
• Proof of work address
• Latest school report
• Clinic card/immunisation report (grade 1 only)

The Gauteng education department also urged parents to use their home address to ensure that their children are placed in schools close to where they live.

The following factors will play a role in where children are placed:

• Home address within feeder zone
• Siblings
• Work address

Lesufi said the application system has also improved by allowing applicants to choose a language of learning they prefer.

“This is an important element for us to make sure all languages are protected,” he added.

Lesufi stated that they have 48 walk-in centres for parents without internet access.

“We also have 105 community libraries, that will be available to assist parents that do not have access to the internet,” added Lesufi.

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