Gauteng parents and guardians will have a month-long period to submit online applications for learners starting grades one and eight in the 2024 academic year.
This, as the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) yesterday announced 15 June as the official commencement date of its online admission process for the two grades.
The online application period will run until 14 July, with education MEC Matome Chiloane promising a “seamless” process.
“Parents must rest-assured their children will be placed. We are working around the clock; we won’t wait for January to find space for children. We are taking a multi-streamed approach to ensure we increase the capacity of schools and make sure learners are placed.”
Chiloane added there have been “significant” improvements to the system. “The system, at best, is the best that we have currently. In the past, parents would sleep outside schools for days, to get an opportunity to register their children at their preferred schools.
“This time, parents can do [applications] in our walk-in centres, at a school or in the comfort of their home or work. We’ve applied technology to make it much easier for parents to ensure they get their children into the schools they prefer.
“The system has assisted us; we could’ve been dealing with chaos. Imagine over 350 000 parents scrambling in schools for space. The system also offers transparency because we know where each learner is placed.”
The Gauteng education department introduced the schools online registration system for grade one and eight learners in 2016, under leadership of now-premier Panyaza Lesufi.
This was part of the department’s effort to prevent long queues and encourage a tech-savvy school registration process.
The system, however, is often prone to hiccups, ranging from the inability to handle multiple users at a time and the department failing to communicate on time with parents on the status of their children's applications, to finding schools for unplaced learners at the start of every academic year.
It has also been reported that the system has been prone to manipulation by some officials in schools and district offices.
Like his predecessor last year, Chiloane promised reinforcements to ensure a seamless process and timeous placement of all learners. The education department is prepared to provide educational support to schools, he said.
“The system has been improved. We do assessments annually, in order to identify areas that we need to improve. The areas vary…and that is why we know the system will be better this year and operate much better than it did last year.”
According to the MEC, the GDE’s consultation process is broad and includes the schools’ leadership, school governing bodies, as well as various stakeholders that interact with the system.
Among improvements is the system’s capacity to accept applications per minute.
He also explained the 2024 online admissions will follow a single application process. This means parents and guardians applying for grades one and eight will apply at the same time. Offers will also be issued at the same time.
Meanwhile, the MEC discouraged parents and guardians from using internet cafés to make an online application for school placements. Instead, he advised parents to go to any school or district office for assistance.
The application link will be made available once the online admissions system opens.
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