Azra Hoosen | ah@radioislam.co.za
11 December 2024 | 14:30 CAT
2 min read

The Gauteng Department of Education has provided an update on the placement of Grade 1 and Grade 8 learners for the 2025 school year. These two critical grades have long been a point of focus for parents, who must ensure their children are placed in schools in advance. The online application process, which opened in July, was initially set to close in mid-August but was extended by two days due to system glitches.

In September, the department announced plans to place over 300,000 learners from the 340,000 unique applications submitted. Steve Mabona, spokesperson for the Gauteng Department of Basic Education, clarified that the two-day extension of the online application process was not due to system glitches. He explained that the extension was necessary because parents were unable to access the system due to downtime caused by the State Information Technology Agency (SITA). Mabona emphasised that the issue was not a glitch but rather a lack of access to the system during that time.

“We extended it for two days, so all parents managed to apply. You know, we started with the placement period, continued, and then placed everyone. We have only 124 learners in the Kempton Park area—those that we could not place. But we are meeting with them, at 6 o’clock just to devise some strategy on how we’re going to accommodate those children in the schools in the area,” he said.

Mabona confirmed that 19,000 applications were indeed incomplete. He added, “To accommodate those who were unable to complete their applications, we are reopening the system on December 11th.”

Mabona explained that parents who moved to Gauteng at the end of the year and missed the registration process will have the opportunity to apply when the system reopens on December 11th. He stated that as they open on the 11th, parents will be encouraged to go into the system and check the schools available. Once you choose a school, you will automatically be in the placement process. “So we won’t have a placement period like we had before. So once you choose that school, it should be available, and you just click. And if it’s available, you are already placed at that school,” he said.

LISTEN to the full interview with Ml Junaid Kharsany and Steve Mabona, spokesperson for the Gauteng Department of Basic Education, here.