GDE confident for school year.

The school year is well on its way and the Department of Education MEC Barbara Creecy said the first day of school went well off for the first day.

Provisions have been made for new applications as the GDE opened applications early in 2013 to prevent late entries

“Starting with the admissions process early helps the Department plan better for infrastructure, learner and teacher support materials, teacher recruitment, nutrition, scholar transport, and other support programs.”

“The department has institutionalised a culture of early preparations for schooling,” said Creecy.

The department has adopted new indicators for the development of school readiness:

· Admission of learners – applications; late admissions and placements;

· Learner-Teacher Support Materials – availability and delivery;

· Academic preparedness – curriculum readiness and timetables;

· School Infrastructure – school buildings and playgrounds; and

· School Safety – scholar patrollers; police station linkage and fencing.

“GDE schools received 131 000 applications for Grade 1 and 114 546 applications for Grade 8 for 2014.

“The majority have already been placed in schools, among them the 24 new schools the GDE took into service in January 2014, according to a GDE press release.

“All Gauteng schools have placed orders for the textbooks they need for 2014, and we are currently monitoring delivery and top up orders, particularly for those schools that require the Department’s direct assistance to purchase the new CAPS textbooks for Grades seven, eight, nine and 12,” said Creecy.