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Delays in opening the online admission process for Grade 1 and Grade 8 for the 2023 academic year will result in many learners across the province missing months of schooling due to late placements.

Based on previous experience, delays in opening the online admission process have had a negative impact on the future of children as they will be denied their right to access basic education.

The DA is disappointed to learn that the Gauteng Department of Education will only be opening the online admissions for Grade 1 and Grade 8 for the 2023 academic year on 22 July 2022 and, it will close on 19 August 2022. The performance and functionality testing of the admission online application system will only be done in June.

This means that the DA’s plea to the department to open the online admission process in April has been blatantly ignored.

Here are the reasons why the DA is suggesting that the online admission process must be open as early as April each year:

• It will ensure that school placement will be done timeously before the new academic year begins.
• To ensure that the department identifies the schools with high enrolment demand and allocates all the necessary needed resources according to the number of learners.
• To ensure that the department allocates all the resources to the schools such as classrooms, teachers, and furniture.
• The schools are also given time to plan and prepare for the new academic year to ensure that schools begin without any disruptions.
• Allowing parents to lodge appeals and be able to choose a school for their child.
• The parents can plan and budget to buy uniforms, arrange transport where needed and buy stationery.

Gauteng Education MEC, Panyaza Lesufi should put politics aside and consider our proposal in the interest of the future of our children. We will continue to hold MEC Lesufi to account for our children's missing months of schooling because of the department’s incompetency to ensure all learners' placement.

The DA will also monitor the online admission process to ensure that glitches in the system are attended to and that all parents are allowed to apply on behalf of their children.

Issued by DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Education Khume Ramulifho