Thousands of learners await placement for 2023 school year

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Thousands of parents and guardians who submitted applications for Gauteng learners going into grades one and eight next year will find out from Monday to 30 November which schools they will be placed in, said education MEC Panyaza Lesufi.

The Gauteng education department’s admissions portal, which was launched online in 2016 to streamline the process, received its highest number of applications ever after applications for the 2023 school year opened in July, he said.

Parents applying for their children were able to join an “e-queue” at five schools at the same time. From Monday, they will be sent text messages with offers of placement, and must respond within seven days, Lesufi said at a media briefing at Hoërskool Menlopark in Pretoria.

Record-breaking numbers 

He said 764 062 applications were submitted and processed for grades one and eight. Of these, 330 227 were for grade one pupils, and 457 433 for grade eight.

But only 332 477 — or less than half — learners have been placed in their first choice schools because of limited spots available and based on the placement criteria. 

He said learners are placed in a school based on specific criteria, rather than on a first come, first served basis. The criteria for placement into Gauteng public schools is home and work addresses in the school’s feeder zone; which schools the siblings of a prospective learner go to, and whether the home address is in a 30km radius of the school.

“We come from an era where our schooling system was divided into two parts — those who are privileged and those who are not privileged,” said Lesufi. 

“Parents and guardians had been faced with many challenges such as applications not being accounted for; surnames being used as a tool to eliminate them; and being told the school is full before entering the premises.

“We want to encourage people to learn closer to where they stay. The first key criteria is home address. If you stay closer to the school, the better … If you have a sibling in that particular school, this will also prioritise you so parents don’t have to drop one child at one school and drive to another.”

Pressure high schools

The education department had identified 275 primary schools and 221 high schools where the number of applications exceeded the number of learners the schools could accommodate, Lesufi said, but added that every child would be placed.

Primary schools in the Pretoria North district ranked among the top three high-pressure schools. Laerskool Akasia received 1 538 applications but could only accept 255; Laerskool Theresapark received 1 172 applications but could accommodate 210 learners, while Laerskool Rachel de Beer could only accommodate 211 learners of the 1138 who applied. 

“The most sought after school in our province is Hoërskool Langenhoven,” said Lesufi, adding that 2 607 parents applied for placement at the school, which could only accept 300 grade eight learners. 

Other high-pressure schools were Alberton High School, which could only accept 210 of the 2 488 applicants, and Parktown Boys’ High, where only 152 out of 2 328 learners could be accommodated.

Lesufi said the high volume of applications to these schools was in line with new urban developments in the areas. For example, new developments in Alberton were the reason for the more than 2 000 applications to Alberton High School. 

“Two thousand three hundred [learners] is two new schools. That means around that area we need to build two new schools as a department,” Lesufi explained. “Almost 2 100 parents who want to take their children there, will unfortunately not be in the position to take their children there.”

The online application portal — which has in the past been notoriously glitchy for users — doubles as a tool for the education department to plan where to build new schools based on where parents want to send their children, and in areas where they are needed. 

“I think many people feel that we have taken this route for purposes of frustrating them, for purposes of placing them with an unacceptable level of anxiety, but with online registrations, you can queue at five schools at the same time. Your forms will be accounted for, your application will be accounted for and we can be in a position to trace each and every application,” said Lesufi.

“We have identified 599 additional primary school classrooms and 698 additional classrooms in secondary schools. With all these interventions, unfortunately it will not be possible to accommodate all applicants to schools they prefer. However, all applicants will be placed at schools with available space.”

The MEC said the most sought after township school was Phumlani Secondary School in Germiston, adding: “They can only take 200 learners, but we have 2 228 applications received in that area.” 

He attributed the high volume of applications to the school’s language policy, which incorporated three to four popular languages.