The Gauteng Department of Education has extended the admission placement period for the 2020 academic year to November 30.

It initially commenced on May 20, with parents receiving seven additional days to submit documents until July 22.

“During this period, 310 350 applications were made for grades 1 and 8. Of these, 27 563 applicants have not submitted any documents, while 282 787 submitted documents as required,” department spokesperson Steve Mabona said in a statement on Sunday.

As a result, the placement period commenced in September with an end date of October 31, however, the process is ongoing until all pupils are placed.

“During this period, the department remains committed to placing the 282 787 who submitted documents. To date, 234 290 applicants have been placed, while 43 797 are unplaced,” Mabona added.

The department noted a “concerning” figure of 4 700 applicants who have not accepted their offers.

Parents are reminded that they are only afforded a period of seven days to accept the offer.

In addition, approximately 411 schools are said to have reached capacity.

“Most of these schools have already reached their capacity to accommodate as many learners as possible. Applicants who cannot be accommodated at these schools are placed at schools with available space,” Mabona said.

According to the department, pupils were placed according to the following criteria:

• The applicant pupil’s place of residence is closest to the school within the feeder zone.
• The applicant pupil has a sibling attending the school.
• The place of employment of at least one of the applicant pupil’s parents is within the feeder zone of the school.
• The applicant pupil’s place of residence is within a 30km radius of the school.
• The applicant pupil’s place of residence is beyond a 30km radius of the school.
• “To facilitate a fair placement process, the above criteria are strictly adhered to without fail.

Parents should therefore accept placement offered by the department as these cannot be changed,” Mabona said.

Parents are urged to log on to the system however, if they do not have access to the internet they may visit the nearest district office for assistance.

“Parents should rest assured that the department is obliged to place all learners, and as such all learners will be placed, however, it might not be at schools that they want. It must be noted that schools are making every effort to accommodate all in line with admissions regulations.

“We are aware that some of our officials were assaulted, equipment and buildings vandalised. We wish to call upon parents to be calm and not use violence at our offices,” said Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi.

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