For parents and caregivers with children entering grade one or grade eight in 2023 the upcoming online applications for Gauteng schools is arguably the biggest academic event in the calendar, and the government has promised improvements to the system.

One of these improvements is around the handling of documents. As it was highlighted earlier this month, the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) has already urged those applying to prepare their documents for submission.

“The [2023 online applications] System has been improved to better manage the uploading or submission of documents by parents, and the receipt and verification of documents by schools,” the GDE writes today on Twitter. 

No application can be done without certified documents, a process that still has to be done in person and provides a challenge during the ongoing pandemic.

Certification can be done at police stations and other alternatives listed here.

As for what happens to those documents once they are submitted with an application, the GDE explains:

“Schools will receive an auto alert each time new documents are uploaded by applicants and highlight all uploaded documents for schools to verify. The system will prompt schools to answer whether an applicant has submitted documents physically,” the department writes.

“If yes, the system will prompt the school to verify the documents and update document status If no, the system will create an alert on the parent’s profile and an SMS will be sent to the parent reminding them to submit or upload documents,” it adds.

The online applications for Gauteng schools for grade one and grade eight opens on 22nd July and closes on 19th August 2022. It’s recommended that applications are done as soon as possible once open.