GDE PLACED OVER 260 000 GRADE 1 AND GRADE 8 LEARNERS FOR 2023
The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) wishes to announce that, as of Wednesday, 30 November 2022, a total of 268 192 Grade 1 and Grade 8 learners, whose parents applied using the GDE Online Admissions System, have been successfully placed. This translates to a total of 135 465 Grade 1 learners and 132 727 Grade 8 learners who have been placed in preparation for the 2023 academic year.
It must be noted that, after conducting a thorough analysis on our Online Admissions System, it is unlikely that the remaining number of learners will be placed by end of business today, as purported in our previous communication to the public. As such, we wish to profusely apologise to parents for this inconvenience.
Subsequently, only 31 549 (Grade 1: 8 142 and Grade 8: 23 407) remain to be placed, and our officials across the province are working tirelessly to ensure that these learners are adequately placed.
This is to assure parents that the placement process will continue until all unplaced learners are placed accordingly.
As mentioned previously, our challenge is capacity at schools in high pressure areas that received large volumes of applications, which exceed the number of learners they can accommodate. We have therefore decided to increase capacity at all identified high pressure schools by providing mobile units that will be delivered before the commencement of the 2023 academic year.
We have also strengthened our transfer placement system, meaning that some learners who could not be placed at preferred schools due to capacity constraints have been, and will continue being, transferred to schools with available space.
From Thursday, 1 December 2022, we will commence with the process of placing all applicants who were unable to provide their proof of address during the application period. During this process, all applicants who submitted incomplete documents (proof of residential address) will be offered placement at schools with available space. Parents will receive transfer placement offers via SMS, and they may also log on to the System to check their placement status.
We wish to reiterate that the system will be open from 20 December 2022 until 20 January 2023 for late applications to accommodate parents who were unable to apply. Parents who applied during the application period MUST NOT re-apply during the late application period.
It is important to note that applications made during the late application period will be placed at schools with available spaces. Schools that have reached full capacity will not be available for parents applying during the late application period. Late applicants will be allowed to submit only one application, which will result in immediate placement.
Upon submitting a late application, applicants must submit all documents physically at the school(s) they applied to from 9 January 2023 to finalise their placement.
“We wish to assure parents that when the 2023 academic year commences, we are adamant that every Grade 1 and Grade 8 learner in Gauteng will be at a desk with learning material in a class with an educator receiving quality education. As such, we appeal for patience among parents as we embark on the process of finalising the placement of all unplaced learners,” said Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane.
For more information, contact the Gauteng Department of Education’s Spokesperson, Steve Mabona on 072 574 3860.
For more updates regarding GDE related news and information, follow us on our website and social media platforms:
Facebook: The Gauteng Department of Education Twitter: [email protected] Instagram: Agautenudepartmentofeducation
For media releases, speeches and news visit the Gauteng Department of Education’s portal at https://education.ciautenumov.za
Issued by the Gauteng Department of Education
