There has been more than 100 000 successful Phase 1 applications since the Gauteng Department of Education’s (GDE) 2022 Online Admissions Application system opened on Tuesday, August 10.

By Wednesday, August 11, applications surpassed the 50 000 mark with more than 52 000 successful applications reached on the second day of the 2022 Online Admissions in Gauteng. By noon on Friday, August 13, they have recorded 104 504 successful applications.

GDE spokesperson Steve Mabona said accordingly, this milestone is indicative of the hard work that has been put in by the GDE staff who are handling an average of 5 000 calls a day at the GDE Contact and Walk-in centres across the province.

“Our gratitude must also go to our parents and guardians whose patience and understanding has made this process smoother. Applications began smoothly on Tuesday with some parents having to overcome a few challenges, including incorrect ID number/home address – even after parents/guardians had verified their personal details at schools. Some parents also raised concerns about not receiving assistance with the verification of details from schools.

“Indeed, our back-office support – including the Districts and schools – has been extremely busy providing assistance to parents and guardians so that they are better able to navigate the system.

We would like to encourage parents who have not yet verified their information to communicate with their children’s schools to check if schools updated details. If this does not prove to be helpful; parents are then encouraged to visit our District Offices and Walk-in centres or call the GDE’s Contact Centre 0800 000 789.”

Gauteng MEC for Education, Phanyaza Lesufi added, “It is important to reiterate that, the 2022 online admissions are taking place through a two-phase approach to improve administrative efficiency. Phase 1 applications, which started on August 10 and will end on September 3, are for parents and guardians whose children are currently in Grade 7 at a public school in Gauteng and will be going to Grade 8 in 2022.

“Phase 2 applications will begin on September 13 and will focus on parents and guardians whose children will be going to Grade 1 or Grade 8 in 2022 but are not in a public school in Gauteng, this will end on October 8. Bravo, indeed, we are vindicated that the two-phase process was in the best interest of both learners and parents.”

On Tuesday August 17, the GDE wishes to announce that the 2022 Online Admissions website (www.gdeadmissions.gov.za) will shut down for the next 48 hours due to an emergency fix that has to be urgently applied on the system.

This means that parents and guardians who are applying under the current Phase 1 application period will not be able to access the website from 17 August until further notice.

Applications will not be affected by this emergency, and parents may resume applying once we give notice of the website going live again. Our technicians are working around the clock to resolve this emergency accordingly. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused,” said Gauteng Education MEC, Mr Panyaza Lesufi.