Gauteng Education MEC, Matome Chiloane, and the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) is expected to soon set a date for online registrations of Grades One and Eight for the 2024 academic year.
Chiloane has announced that the application period for these grades will open on 15 June and remain open until 14 July 2023.
This announcement comes after several parents expressed their concerns earlier in 2023 when the system failed to allocate placements for some learners in a timely manner for the current academic period.
Gauteng school applications for the 2023 academic year opened last year, and unfortunately, the process has not been smooth-sailing for parents and/or guardians applying on behalf of their children.
These frustrations are not a new occurrence amongst parents, as complaints have arisen every year since the introduction of the online application platform/system, even if they've applied on time along with all the necessary documents.
GED Spokesperson, Steve Mabona, says the Gauteng province has a capacity problem.
Many parents would not be in a position to afford private and independent schooling, so that compounded to our challenge of capacity. But we've been working very hard to make sure that we prepare for closing the gap, in terms of capacity.
Mabona added that each year, the Department goes back and improves the online system, in order to work out the kinks that are causing so much frustration amongst applicants.
Those parents and/or guardians who managed to apply on time are now attempting to register their children at a school they have been accepted and confirmed attendance for, but many have found the task to be challenging.
While it often happens that parents and/or guardians miss the deadline, and therefore the Department has many late applications, one other prevalent issue is the fact that in January when schools begin the new academic year, there are thousands of learners still on the waiting list.
Because of this delay, thousands of learners are still without a school, meaning they've missed out on almost half of the year's work already.
In response, the Gauteng Education Department has taken proactive steps to address this issue, including the construction of additional schools to ensure that all learners can be accommodated without space constraints, which is welcomed due to the situation of overcrowded classrooms in South Africa's schools.
Chiloane said:
Our system has been growing over the past 10 years or so. So, the infrastructure need is also becoming exponential, so we have to come up with measures.
With the online application process for 2024 set to open in mid-June, parents are urged to familiarize themselves with the requirements and procedures for successful enrollment.
