• The Gauteng Department of Education says that the registration process for Grade 1 and Grade 8 learners for the 2024 academic year has now concluded.
• It will begin placing these learners in schools as of 4th September 2023.
• Parents and guardians who are properly registered will begin receiving SMSs with school placement offers from that date.

Registrations for learners from grade 1 and grade 8 started earlier this year, at different times in different provinces.

In Gauteng, South Africa’s most populous province, online admissions for learners from both grades opened on 15th June and closed on 21st July. This phase of the process has now concluded, according to the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE).

According to SA News, 757 075 new learners from Grade 1 and Grade 8 were signed up during this year’s admission process to begin schooling next year.

“This translates into a total of 324 756 Grade 1 applications and 432 219 Grade 8 applications,” said the GDE on Sunday.

It further announced that the 2024 Online Admissions Placement Period for Grade 1 and 8 will begin on 4th September 2023 and will “continue until the end of the year until all learners are placed.”

It adds that parents/guardians with complete applications made during the June – July period will now begin receiving SMSs with school placement offers for their children.

“SMSes will be sent out on a continual basis from 4 September 2023 until all learners are placed. This means that not all applicants will receive an SMS on the first day of the placement period, but must expect an SMS anytime from 4 September 2023 and throughout the course of the year,” it explained.

Once offers are received, parents will have to log in to www.gdeadmissions.gov.za to accept placement offers. You can find a run down on how to do this here.

The GDE says it wants to remind parents/guardians that all placements are subject to the priority of placement criteria and availability of space per school.

“Therefore, applicants that cannot be accommodated at schools they applied to due to the schools having reached capacity, will receive transfer offers of placement at the next closest school with available space,” it says.

Unlike previous years, 2023’s online admissions process seemingly went with few technical issues, despite the hundreds of thousands of sign-ups the system received over the relatively short period. At least so far.

“This success can be attributed to system improvements over the years, which is necessitated by continuous stakeholder engagements and technological advancements,” the GDE said.

Last year, technical issues left thousands of learners in the lurch as they could not be placed.

If you are a parent or guardian and have yet to receive an SMS from the department, there is no need to panic. You can check if your child has been placed directly on the GDE Admissions site linked above.

Additionally, parents can interact with department call centre agents if they have any questions. They can do so on WhatsApp on 060 891 0361 or mobile 0800 000 789.

[Image – Photo by ROBIN WORRALL on Unsplash]