Don't let your child miss school: parents urged to apply on time for grade 1 and 8 placement

For years parents have experienced their children missing school for months due to problems with school allocations in Gauteng.

The department of education recently announced the online admissions for grades 1 and 8 for the 2024 academic year will start on June 15 and close on July 14. This gives parents about a month for the applications.

Since the adoption of online school admissions in Gauteng, parents have complained about a lack of school allocation for their children.

The department and the DA have urged parents to apply on time this year to avoid their children missing school days.

Gauteng provincial legislature member Khume Ramulifho said applying early would give parents and guardians time to get assistance if they experienced glitches in the system. 

“We urge parents not to waste time and apply to avoid the chances of their children not being placed on time. For years, the online system has put parents under unnecessary strain where children will miss months of schooling,” Ramulifho said. 

Ramulifho said the department should allocate resources to schools with high enrolment demand as parents tend to fight the department to allocate their children to particular schools.

“We will monitor the process to ensure that those applied on time are prioritised,” he said.

Roodepoort resident Busisiwe Dinga did not get space for her three children, which led to them missing three months of the 2023 school year.

She was assisted by the department’s district office in Florida Lake in late March and two of her children, in grades 11 and 6, were allocated schools.

Dinga told TimesLIVE she had applied early and did not understand how her children were not allocated schools on the system. 

Briefing the media on Sunday, Gauteng education MEC Matome Chiloane said the department had made improvements to the online admissions application system. 

“Applicants are discouraged from using internet cafes to avoid errors. Instead, please go to any school, district office or use one of the 80 decentralised walk-in centres for assistance. Note that the department does not charge a fee when assisting parents to submit applications,” Chiloane said.