Plea to parents of Grade 1 and 8 placement applicants
PARENTS who will be looking for learner placement in Grades 1 and 8 have been urged to research feeder zones and get their documentation in order after the announcement of the 2024 application period.
Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane announced yesterday that the online admission period for Grades 1 and 8 would open on June 15 at 8am and officially close on July 14 at midnight, giving parents a month to apply for a spot.
Chiloane said the system had been improved as his department conducted assessments of the system and identified areas for improvement through consultations with school leadership, governing bodies and other stakeholders.
He said the capacity of the system to take applications per minute had been improved, and that this year they would also have a single application process.
Last year, the department had a twophased approach for learners already within the system, which gave them preference to apply only after opening the process for others in the public education system.
However, this year, Chiloane said the department would have one process for everyone to apply on the same day.
The system is expected to accept 40 000 applications per minute, with the hope that it will be able to process at least 500 000 in 10 minutes.
“We are discouraging the use of internet cafés as they are not reliable.”
As an alternative, Chiloane said his department had set up numerous walk-in centres at district offices and the schools to ensure system-wide support for parents to make applications.
Chiloane said his department knew of the “high-pressure” schools and had already begun the process to increase capacity.
“There is no school that is going to deny access due to language, but it is advisable that learners continue with the language of schooling that they have used in previous years. But language is not the criteria the schools are using to place learners, so parents should not worry that they will be denied access.”
This after reports of clashes between schools such as Laerskool Danie Malan in Pretoria North and parents earlier in the year regarding access to the school.
The EFF and some parents accused the school of unfairly turning away black learners.
Chiloane urged parents of learners in Grade R enrolled at schools not to assume their children would automatically be accepted in Grade 1 at the schools they were enrolled in.
He said offers would be sent to parents from September 4 until the very last learner was placed.