The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) updated parents about the online 2021 Admissions Placement Process for Grade 1 and 8. The Online Admissions Application period commenced on 25 June 2020 and ended on 25 July 2020.
Parents must submit documents to all the schools they have applied to online within seven days of applying. Parents started receiving offers of placement on 1 October 2020, and offers not accepted were forfeited after seven school days of receipt.
Based on the capacity of each school to accommodate learners, offers of placement were released to qualifying applicants as per Admissions Regulations.
We can confidently inform that a total of 181 119 (81,48 per cent) applicants have been placed to date. Taking cognizance that this was done under the strain of the Covid-19 pandemic and overwhelming challenges, this is a proud moment,” said Steve Mabona, GDE spokesperson.
He said during this Admissions Application Period, the Department received 222 275 unique applications (Grade 1: 105 326) and (Grade 8: 116 949). A total of 88 503 Grade 1 applicants and 92 616 Grade 8 applicants have been placed.
“During the placement period and in line with the Admissions Regulations, priority is given to applicants who live within the school feeder zone closest to the school. The second priority is siblings and applicants that are currently in Grade 7 at a neighbouring school.
Applicants of parents who work close to the school are placed only if the school has space available after accommodating applicants within the school feeder zone. Finally, applicants who live within 30km of the school and beyond 30km of the school are accommodated last.”
Mabona said currently, 280 schools (144 primary schools and 136 high schools) have reached full capacity and cannot accommodate any more placements. The following are high-pressure areas: Benoni, Alberton, Johannesburg South, Lenasia, Roodepoort, Bryanston, Midrand, Centurion and Akasia.
He added the department noted with appreciation that principals of schools in high-pressure areas have voluntarily expanded their capacities to accept a combined total of 2 117 additional learners.
“It must be noted that 23 per cent of learners that were not accommodated at the schools their parents applied to, are currently being transferred to schools with available space. To date, a total of 17 902 learners have been transferred to schools with available space. Of these 2 210 accepted the transfer placement and 438 objected.
The unplaced applicants and including those that have been transferred and accepted will be given an opportunity on Monday, 7 December to choose their preferred schools from a list with available spaces.”
This functionality will be available from Monday, 7 December 2020 to Friday, 11 December 2020 on the parents’ profile. Parents will have to log on to gdeadmissions.gov.za using their credentials, and on the landing page would be required to click the icon labelled ‘list of school for with available spaces’.
“We must emphasise that schools that are full will not appear in the list. The objections will be processed from 7 December 2020. Parents who decline placement offers will be afforded an opportunity to submit an objection within seven days of receiving an offer. Dissatisfaction with the objection result may be registered by lodging an appeal. Both the objection and appeal submitted will be responded to within 14 days. An objection or appeal against placement at a school that the parent applied to will not be accepted.
From 16 December to 21 December 2020 the system will open for the 33 460 applicants who did not submit documents during the application period. These applicants must upload documents and then choose a school from the list of available schools. The documents will be auto-verified and they will receive an SMS confirming placement.”
Mabona said parents who have not yet applied must note that the Online Admissions System is scheduled to open for Late Applications on 22 December 2020 and close on 22 January 2021.
“Between 25 and 29 January 2021 schools will be receiving and finalising placement of parents that received SMSes confirming such. Parents will be allowed one application per learner. Only schools with available space will open during this period.
“In view of Covid-19 and that schools are not accessible to the public, parents are urged to upload all documents online. The system will auto-verify documents and provide a response to parents. Parents will receive an SMS informing them to report to the school to finalise admissions. Schools will process parents’ requests based on the SMS received.”
To accommodate applicants who are unable to apply independently, decentralised admissions Walk-In Centres will operate within all Districts from 18 to 29 January 2021.
We appeal to parents to be patient as officials work tirelessly to place all learners. Let us not lower our guard and continue to adhere to the necessary Covid-19 regulations, and as such parents are advised not to visit schools without prior appointments.”
