The department expects no issues with the online school registration system
The Gauteng Department of Education offers school applications each year for students entering grades one and eight. However, every year parents and guardians express or have personal experience with various issues with the online platform.
Gauteng Education MEC, Matome Chiloane has announced that the application period for Grades 1 and 8 is open on 15 June 2023 and will remain open until 14 July 2023.
Before beginning their online application for school admission, all parents and guardians are recommended to familiarise themselves with the procedure and to apply early.
Those parents and/or guardians who were successful in submitting their applications on time are now attempting to enrol their kids in a school for which they have been approved and confirmed attendance, but many have found the process to be difficult.
In recent years, system crashes and parental/guardian login problems have been frequent problems.
This recurring issue is blamed by the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) to the system becoming overloaded as a result of the large number of applications being submitted at once.
For this current application period, Chiloane says the process is “so far, so good.”
“This year, officially, we [the GDE] can announce that there was no glitches at all since the system went live at eight o’clock [on 15 June] until now”
Chiloane stated that the GDE has already received more than 160 000 applications, and that number is probably going to rise.
Prior to this school year (2023), when the system failed to provide places for some students in a timely manner for the current academic year, several parents voiced their worries.
The method for parents and/or guardians applying on behalf of their children when the 2023 school applications were released last year was not straightforward.
Parents have long complained about the online application platform and system, even when they submitted their applications on time and with all the required paperwork. This anger is not a new occurrence.
The Gauteng province has a capacity issue, according to GED Spokesperson Steve Mabona.
Many parents would not be in a position to afford private and independent schooling, so that compounded to our challenge of capacity. But we’ve been working very hard to make sure that we prepare for closing the gap, in terms of capacity.
“Many parents would not be in a position to afford private and independent schooling, so that compounded to our challenge of capacity. But we’ve been working very hard to make sure that we prepare for closing the gap, in terms of capacity.:”
Mabona added that each year, the Department goes back and improves the online system, in order to work out the kinks that are causing so much frustration amongst applicants.
“The system has been very good; I think this year, the changes and improvements that we made, were really bad fruit. We are quite happy today”
According to Chiloane, the GDE does not foresee any additional difficulties in the days to come with the system becoming backlogged as applications continue to pour in.
As late submissions make the process more difficult and frequently result in undesirable outcomes, such as students being put in schools other than their top choices, Chiloane has advised parents/guardians to make use of the month-long application period to submit their child’s details on time.
To access the admissions online application system, parents will need to visit the official Gauteng Department of Education Admissions website via www.gdeadmissions.gov.za.
This can be done on any smartphone or computer device. Once you have accessed the admissions homepage, you need to register a profile to begin the five-step application process.