High admission pressure in Springs
About 7 092 learners whose parents applied for positions in specific schools online still need to be placed in schools.
The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) is currently experiencing high admission pressure in Selcourt, Selpark, CBD and in Tsakane.
In a statement issued by the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE), MEC Panyaza Lesufi explained that 3 930 of the total of 7 092 of unplaced children are Grade One and Three learners, while 162 are from Grade Eight.
“However, 12 821 completely new applications have been received, of which 7 820 are for Grade One and 5 001 for Grade Eight,” says Oupa Bodibe, GDE spokesman.
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The total number of unplaced learners as from Tuesday is 19 913, if the online and walk-ins applications are combined..
Bodibe says to date 312 088 applications were processed online and 304 996 learners have been placed, of whom 175 827 were for Grade One and 136 088 for Grade Eight.
“Online applications take precedence and where there is adequate space, walk-in parents will be accommodated,” he says.
To alleviate pressure, the following interventions were implemented:
•About 603 Alternative Construction Technology (ACT) classrooms will be delivered, to accommodate the learners in the high-pressure schools.
• Libraries, halls and specialist rooms will be used as learning spaces in the interim.
• Learners are accommodated by single-medium schools in high-pressure areas.
• Neighbouring schools share unplaced learners.
• Districts facilitate cross-border transfers where applicable.
• Where schools cannot accommodate learners, the department will introduce transport to the closest schools with room for them.
Schools have not been declared full as yet, as district offices are still looking for spaces where offers of placements were not confirmed.
The GDE is committed to accelerating placement of those unplaced children to eliminate the backlog of online applications, but it says the walk-in applications may take a while.
Read: Some schools experience hiccoughs with online admissions
Bodibe says the fundamental reason for the delay is the overwhelming demand for spaces where schools are completely full.
“This makes it hard to accommodate the child in the first school of choice of a parent,” he says.
The GDE appeals to parents to accept the offers being given by districts.
Another reason is administrative delays, for example, schools not updating placement data on time and the intense process of verifying the placement information submitted by schools to the districts.
Districts had to ensure that schools followed the admission regulations and turned back submitted list where discrepancies were found.
Late applications also added to the delay, as more than 70 000 online applications were received after the deadline of June 1.
The GDE says it appreciates the cooperation of parents who used the online system.
“We apologise to the parents who didn’t receive updates from the schools where they applied online,” says Bodibe.
