The Limpopo Department of Education has announced that school applications for the 2024 school year are now open.
Application Opening And Closing Dates
Parents and guardians must submit admission applications by the end of the application period to secure a placement of their child at a school in the province, for the upcoming school academic year.
The admission application period opened in May 2023, and has remained open for approximately two months. Parents have until 30 September 2023 to submit a school admission application on behalf of their child.
Applying For The 2024 School Year
Parents are reminded that if a child is going to school for the first time or moving to a new school in the 2024 school year, they are required to collect registration forms from the school.
They may submit admission applications to schools where the child has siblings that are attending the school, a school nearest to the parent's work address and a school of preference.
Typically, applications are submitted for Grades One and Eight in the following year.
Documents Needed For Limpopo School Applications
- Birth certificate or acceptable proof of birth date
- Immunisation card
- Transfer card
- Lastest report card
Non-South African citizens can submit study or work permits. Additionally, they can submit a Temporary or permanent residence permit from the Department of Home Affairs and evidence that they have applied for permission to stay in South Africa.
The child must be 4 years old turning 5 years old on or before 30 June 2024 for admission to Grade R. Admission for Grade 1 requires the child to be 5 years old turning 6 years old on or before 30 June 2024.
Parents have the right to know why their child's admission application is rejected. If they feel the reason for the admission application is unjust, they may lodge a formal complaint at the Limpopo Education Department’s nearest circuit office.
Any formal complaint from parents whose children have not been admitted can be lodged through the nearest circuit offices.
Late Applications Cause Challenges For Parents, Learners And The Department
When both inland and coastal schools open their doors for the new school year, schools in all nine provinces have a common challenge of unplaced learners.
Additionally, overcrowding in schools remains a prevalent issue in South Africa's school system, made worse by late applications.
It is not an easy task to place learners whose applications were late, as capacity has often been reached by the time the academic year kicks off. Learners often remain unplaced for months at a time, missing out on learning and completing tasks and exams, that contribute to their yearly marks and influence their progression into the next grade.
Department of Basic Education (DBE) officials have previously explained that unplaced learners are not due to the Department's online system having deficiencies, but rather the lack of capacity at schools in the province and an overall increase in the number of applications received by the DBE.
