The Gauteng department of education said last week that 248,866 learners had been placed at schools for the 2019 academic year.
“It has been a difficult process because we received more applications than anticipated. For the first time there are areas we need to shut down completely and no longer accepting learners,” MEC Panyaza Lesufi said during a briefing at the GDE offices.
He said as many as 6,879 parents who applied on time would be informed that their children would not be placed at the school of their choice.
282,000 applications were made, 149 461 were for grade one and 133,362 grade eight. Lesufi said that there were some parents who had not responded to offers and submitted required documents.
“We asking those parents to give us until 5 November when we will show them areas that still have space.”
Kempton Park, Centurion, Fourways and the South of Johannesburg are some of the areas that are full. The MEC said a primary school even had to be converted into a high school in Centurion to accommodate more learners.
Lesufi said at this moment there would not be another round of applications for parents who did not apply online until the 6,000 learners have been assisted first.
He said the 6,000 parents needed to go to the district offices to see which schools were still available.
Lesufi said the 6,000 parents could also email admissions.hotline@gauteng.gov.za to find out which schools are still available.
“Those looking forward to late registration, please hold on.”
The MEC said that the department was facing severe financial pressure due to the high volumes of learners in Gauteng.
ANA
