Parents and other guardians with children going into grade one and grade eight in Gauteng can now put through their late applications to get those kids into schools.
At one minute past midnight today, 12th January, the online applications opened on the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) website which can be accessed here.
As pointed out by the official image which you can see above, applicants should see schools with open spaces which can then be applied to with placement following the submission of documents either online or with hard copies.
Unfortunately this isn’t going as planned already. On Twitter, for example, we can see many parents struggling with the system either not working at all, or not working as intended.
Placements seem to not be available or offered for schools which are unacceptably far away. At the time of writing there seems to be no public response from the GDE about these issues.
We do recommend that those struggling with the system keep trying. We’ve seen countless problems with governmental websites in the past, such as the driver’s licence booking system, which requires a lot of patience and a lot of page refreshes before working properly.
Those who are still struggling with the application process are encouraged to contact the GDE through email at gdeinfo[at]gauteng[dot]gov[dot]za or by phone at 0800 000 789 or 011 355 0000.
On the aforementioned website, which is linked above for applications, there is a 12-minute video giving applicants a step-by-step guide on the required process.
According to a PDF of the learner admission management plan for 2021 / 2022 available on the GDE website, no end date is provided for the late admissions process. It is recommended to apply as soon as possible, however.
Today also marks the return to school for many students in Gauteng and other provinces.
Teachers and support staff at inland schools got back to work today and are busy preparing for their learners’ return on Wednesday.#BackToSchool pic.twitter.com/5U81AmhqWy
— Dep. Basic Education (@DBE_SA) January 10, 2022
