Preparations for the 2014 academic year started in April 2013, when the Gauteng Department of Education brought its admissions process forward to make sure that every school and every learner in the province had sufficient time to avoid any last-minute rush for enrolments.
The department revealed that schools received 131 000 applications for Grade 1 and 114 546 applications for Grade 8 for 2014.
The majority of the children had already been placed in schools by December 2013.
“All Gauteng schools have placed orders for the textbooks they need for 2014, and we are currently monitoring delivery and top up orders, particularly for those schools that require the department’s direct assistance to purchase the new CAPS textbooks for Grade 7, 8, 9 and 12,” added Creecy.
“Besides the massive programme to build new schools and additional facilities in existing schools, in response to rising demand for places in Gauteng, the department’s infrastructure planning includes a long-term programme to merge, and in some cases close, some under-utilised schools as a contribution to ensuring optimal utilisation of resources,” said Creecy.
She added, “As part of this programme, the department has formalised these mergers and closures as required.”
Creecy added that as part of the department’s annual schools’ readiness campaign, officials also visited schools across the province to check on preparations for 2014, and to ensure that “teaching and learning could get underway without major challenges on the first day of the academic year”.
“With 28 new schools coming into service in 2014 and our inspections showing that schools are well-prepared, we go into the new year ready to ensure that teaching and learning can take place across the province from day one of the new academic year,” said MEC Creecy. A further four schools would be opened in April, bringing the total number of new learning facilities in Gauteng for 2014 to 28.
