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Civil rights organisation AfriForum advises parents and guardians who wish to register their children for admission in 2025 to Grade 1 or 8 in Gauteng schools to note that the online registration process will open tomorrow, 11 July 2024, at 08:00. This period ends at midnight on 12 August 2024, which means that parents will only have a month to register their children. AfriForum therefore encourages parents to complete this registration process as soon as possible to ensure that their children will be placed in the school of their choice.

According to Alana Bailey, AfriForum’s Head of Cultural Affairs, applications for placement in Gauteng schools will once again only take place online on the Gauteng Department of Education’s website (www.gdeadmissions.gov.za). Documents that will be required are:

• The parent’s South African ID or passport
• The child’s birth certificate
• Proof of residential address
• Proof of the parent’s work address
• For learners going to Grade 8, their most recent Grade 7 report
• For learners going to Grade 1, their clinic card or immunisation certificate

For parents and children who are not South African citizens, different requirements apply, which are available on the department’s website.

Parents must ensure that they provide their correct contact details and that the cell number they provide remains active at all times until they have received confirmation that their child has been placed. This process should take place from 16 September 2024. Parents with children in Grade R should not assume that their children will automatically be placed in Grade 1 at the same school – they still have to apply like any other parent.

Bailey reminds parents that the required documents must be submitted online in a compact format, or at the school of their choice within seven days of submitting the online application. If the documents are not submitted within a week, the application will expire.

As mentioned above, placements will take place from 16 September and text messages regarding the placement offers can be expected at any time from that date. Parents must respond as soon as possible once they receive an SMS with information about where the child has been placed.

The Gauteng Department of Education will announce guidelines on the application process by means of their media channels. A tutorial video outlining the steps that applicants should follow, is also available at https://youtu.be/HPEAxhi-DWM. 

Parents who experience problems with the system from 11 July are welcome to contact AfriForum for advice at onderwys@afriforum.co.za.

“It is common knowledge that there are too few schools in Gauteng to accommodate all applicants and this problem must be laid at the door of the department. For this reason, it is also essential that children must be registered for admission as soon as possible. AfriForum wants to remind parents once more of the huge benefits that mother-language education offers. They should keep this in mind when they make a decision about the schools they want to enrol their children in,” Bailey emphasises.

Issued by AfriForum