The Gauteng Education Department (GDE) has extended the schools’ admission placement period for Grade 1 and Grade 8 to November 30. The admissions application period for the 2020 academic year began on May 20 and was supposed to have been finalised on October 31.
The department has also slightly reduced the number of unplaced learners from 34 358 to 29 862. However, parents are concerned that their children might not be placed in schools for the new academic year.
A concerned parent from the south of Johannesburg, Alice Mahowa, said she hopes that her 13-year-old son will be placed in a school soon. On November 3, she joined hordes of concerned parents who had received a message urging them to go to their nearest district office for placements. This, explains Mahowa, turned out to be a complete waste of their time.
“I was at the Education District in Johannesburg on November 3, and I was given the runaround. I applied on the first day when they opened the online application, but my child still has not been placed. By this time, I need to know where my son stands and prepare him for school,” she said.
Another parent, Phumzile Motlhasedi, said she has had to settle for private schooling because her son is still not placed in a school and she didn't want to wait until it was too late and there were no other alternatives.
“I applied in May when the system opened for my child to be admitted to high school, but I was unsure what would happen as district officials told me schools are full. I have opted to take my child to a private school as time is running out,” she said.
Spokesperson for the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) Steve Mabona said the GDE reduced the number of unplaced learners and this demonstrates a steady increase of learners currently placed to 250 309, which represents 88.51% of total applications received. Of the number placed, 134 680 were placed in Grade 1 and 115 629 in Grade 8. Total applications received is 310 350.
“Our officials are committed and work tirelessly to place these remaining 29 862 or 10.52% of unplaced learners by November 30, 2019. It is important to remind the public that a total of 27 563 parents have not submitted or do not have documents. We will announce how they will be assisted in due course.
We will currently not be able to accommodate those parents who didn't apply until we place all outstanding learners.
He further added that the department is administering the 2020 admission process under the new Regulations and Feeder Zones Policy.
A parent can apply at any school, but placement depends ultimately on the available space and capacity of the school.
The capacity of the school is a function of the size of the school and the number of current Grades 1 and 8 learners that have been retained or do not pass to the higher grades.
Mabona further cautioned parents to be mindful that the regulated admissions criteria prioritised placement in the order of the following categories: The applicant's place of residence is closest to the school within the feeder zone; the applicant has a sibling attending the school; the place of employment of at least one of the applicant's parents is within the feeder zone of the school; the applicant's place of residence is within a 30km radius of the school; and the applicant's place of residence is beyond a 30km radius of the school.