The department received 335 091 overall applications for 2022. Of these applications, more than 273,000 children having been placed for the 2022 academic year.
However, some learners have not yet been placed. Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi still aims to place more than 4 700 learners before the new school year commences.
This has been a tough time for learners, parents, and the department itself. Lesufi says the number of unplaced learners has doubled since last year, especially at Krugersdorp High School.
Due to this, the education department has decided to place learners at nearby schools.
In the meantime, the education department is constructing classrooms in both primary and high schools to match the demand that has placed pressure on the department for the longest time.
“We have made strides in intervening in the high-pressure areas and availing funding to all those schools that must build to give us additional classes and that will amount to over R240 million that will be transferred to different schools,” said Gauteng Education Department spokesperson Steve Mabona.
Approximately, 60 000 parents have not supplied all the required documents as part of their children’s application for next year. Parents have been given a grace period to submit documents, from the 16th till the 31st of December 2021.
“The document that is quite key for us to place you is proof of residence,” says Mabona.
Mabona says that this document is quite key when placing students as they look at the proximity between the learners' home and the school.
The department will take care of late applications after they have dealt with their current applicants, but these applications will open specifically for schools that have space.
Normally, late applications are permitted in the first week of January but the department is yet to confirm how things will work for 2022.
