The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) confirmed on January 10 that only 0.48% of learners in Grades One and Eight were still to be placed.
That amounts to 1 394 of 292 145.
These are applicants with complete applications who applied on time. They also mentioned that they have 8 375 late applications for both grades and are continuing to place the learners. Currently, some applicants remain unplaced, while others who previously had incomplete applications continue to be placed.
The department has prioritised infrastructure interventions in 2022/23 in response to emergency repairs and renovations needed because of burglaries, vandalism and arson:
• Some 120 schools have been vandalised since the beginning of the 2022 academic year.
• Twenty-four schools were vandalised during the December holiday period.
• Vandalism included various damages and the theft of school property.
• Repairs to vandalised schools have been ongoing since October last year. None of the affected schools was closed as a result of vandalism.
• Some 488 schools were receiving day-to-day infrastructure maintenance.
Improvement in the supply of water and sanitation
• Emergency water was supplied to schools 67 times via filled water tanks.
• Schools received 20 emergency sanitation units to alleviate the shortage.
To address admissions pressure and overcrowding, the department has:
• Allocated funds to 108 high-pressure schools for 408 self-built classrooms last January.
• At the end of last year, funds were transferred to 297 schools to build an additional 878 classrooms. Construction is underway.
• Four new schools are scheduled to open this year (three secondary schools and one primary school).
Placement interventions:
• The department procured 419 mobiles to address the pressure of unplaced applications across the province.
• The procurement of self-built classrooms is also used to increase placement capacity.
• They continue to encourage schools to be part of the self-built programme.
• In high-pressure areas, they are establishing satellite schools.
• There is a concerted effort to work with sister departments to acquire more land to increase the number of schools in high-pressure areas.
