Online admissions for Grade 1 and Grade 8 for the 2023 academic year are running smoothly, with over 165 000 applications processed by midday, according to the Gauteng Department of Education.
Starting at 8am on Friday morning, parents of prospective Grade 1 and Grade 8 pupils were able to register their children for the next academic year via the department’s online portal.
The GDE Online Admissions System was temporarily restricted by Google Maps due to reaching a maximum of 6000 requests per minute, which resulted in parents not being able to view and select schools when applying.
The Department said this was effectively resolved within 30 minutes after the system opened at 8am, and parents were able to proceed with their applications.
MEC for Education Panyaza Lesufi, who outlined recent changes to the system, said the department had upgraded the system’s technical capacity to manage expected high demand.
The #2023OnlineAdmissionsGP application period for Grade 1 & Grade 8 opens today & will close on 19 August 2022 at 00:00.
— GautengGov (@GautengProvince) July 22, 2022
Play your part! Apply online to secure your child’s space at a Gauteng public school for the 2023 academic year. pic.twitter.com/7OUV3Ziil8
It had also been enhanced to follow a single application process, allowing all applicants to apply at the same time during the application period.
“We have made a single application; we have also upgraded our technical side to allow 40 000 people concurrently. Also, 120 applications can be done per hour,” he said.
“We sincerely apologise to parents and guardians for the inconvenience they encountered when our System opened for applications. We thank our technicians for swiftly resolving the matter, which has led us to processing a massive amount of successful applications on the very first day,” said Lesufi.
The MEC was joined by other officials in his department to help parents apply at Ramosa Community Hall on Friday.
THE 2023 ONLINE ADMISSIONS SYSTEM IS 🟢LIVE🟢
Parents/guardians can visit https://t.co/Cz8hkRK6IO to apply or visit any one of our Decentralised Walk-In Centres.@EducationGP1 MEC @Lesufi is helping parents apply at Ramosa Community Hall today. #2023OnlineAdmissionsGP pic.twitter.com/LdIdK5RLXO
The Gauteng Department of Education announced that the online admissions for Grade 1 and Grade 8 for the 2023 academic year will commence on July 22, and close at midnight on August 19 .
The department is urging parents and guardians to apply online – on www.gdeadmissions.gov.za – to secure their child’s space at a Gauteng public school in 2023.
After applying, they will receive SMS notifications of placement offers, to either accept or decline, from October 3 to 31.
“Officials incorporated inputs from our stakeholders on how to improve the system. Indeed, we are hopeful that these implemented enhancements will be helpful to all applicants. Accordingly, we must reiterate that capacity remains our challenge in Gauteng, and a factor that applicants must always bear in mind when applying,” said Lesufi added.
Parents and guardians will be given up until August 26 to upload their supporting documents, which include: parent and child ID or passport; refugee permit; asylum seeker permit; permanent residence permit; study permit; South African birth certificate; proof of home address; proof of work address; and, latest school report and clinic card/immunisation report (Grade 1 only).
However, documents that are uploaded or submitted after the application period closing date will be considered as incomplete applications and will only receive placement at available schools between December 1 and 15.
For further assistance, applicants can call the GDE’s Contact Centre on 0800 000 789 or send a message on our WhatsApp 060 891 0361.
kailene.pillay@inl.co.za
EDUCATION