Parents in Gauteng can breathe a sigh of relief now that the admission placement period has been extended, by the Gauteng Department of Education, to 30 November 2019. The placement period commenced in September and was supposed to end on 31 October 2019 but will now continue until all learners are placed.
“Parents should be rest assured that the Department is obliged to place all learners, and as such all learners will be placed, however it might not be at schools that they want. It must be noted that schools are making every effort to accommodate all in line with Admissions Regulations.
“To date 411 schools have reached capacity. Most of these schools have already extended their capacity to accommodate as many learners as possible. Applicants who cannot be accommodated at these schools are placed at schools with available space.
“We are aware that some of our officials were assaulted, equipment and buildings vandalised. We wish to call upon parents to be calm and not use violence at our offices”, stated MEC Panyaza Lesufi.
He also mentioned that a total of 310 350 applications were made for Grade 1 and Grade 8 learners. Of these, 27 563 applicants have not submitted any documents, while 282 787 did submit documents as required.
With the large number of learners still awaiting placement in schools the department also specified the criteria that accompanies the placement of these learners. The applicant learner’s place of residence is required to be closest to the school (at least within a 30km radius of the school) within the feeder zone and the learner should have a sibling attending the same school.
The applicant learner’s parents’ place of employment is also required to be within the feeder zone of the school. Lesufi concluded by urging parents to accept offers of placement due to spaces being unavailable after a seven-day period.
