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The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng is urging all parents whose children have still not been placed at a school for the 2025 academic year to use the walk-in centres set up by the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE). The GDE has extended the online placement deadlines for Grades 1 and 8 to 30 January 2025. While this decision may provide brief relief to parents and guardians, it underscores the chronic issues plaguing the province’s education system.

The DA has repeatedly called on the department to address these issues by implementing workable solutions rather than reactive measures. More schools need to be built as there is an overwhelming demand for school placements.
The GDE’s reliance on mobile classrooms is a clear example of a failure to effectively plan for future growth and demand. The GDE and the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure (GDID) must ensure that delayed school projects are completed urgently.

In addition, we have been calling on the department to open the online application for school placements earlier in the year. This will allow sufficient time for processing and will reduce the chaos seen at the beginning of each academic year.

Furthermore, there needs to be better communication with parents. Over the years many parents have expressed frustration with the lack of clear communication and the glitches of the online admissions system.
This can be achieved by ensuring that walk-in centres remain open and by deploying teams to visit local shopping malls, where parents can receive assistance with their application submissions. This approach would help bridge the digital divide and ensure that all families have equal access to the admissions process.

While the extension may assist parents that have either not applied or have not submitted necessary documents, schools are set to start on the 15th of January. We cannot allow a situation where any learner is left sitting out of school for several weeks due to a lack of placement. It is imperative that the GDE ensures that all learners are allocated to schools in a timely manner, so they can begin their education without delay.

The DA will continue to monitor the placement process closely to ensure that every learner is placed before the start of the 2025 academic year. We reiterate our call for the GDE to adopt a proactive approach by investing in infrastructure, opening applications earlier, and refining its online systems.

The DA will continue to exert pressure on the department to adopt our proposals for benefit the learners and the schools to ensure that they deliver quality education.

Issued by Sergio Isa Dos Santos MPL - DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Education