Applications for admission to the 2024 academic year will close in a few days and parents are encouraged to apply before deadline.
Extremely late applications, some six weeks after the start of the 2023 school year, resulted in delayed placements of learners. On-time applications allow for better planning, says provincial education minister, David Maynier.
“Over the past five years, the number of learners in the Western Cape has grown by an average of 17 900 every year. This growth in the number of learners cannot be accommodated within existing infrastructure, which is why we have had to make such a substantial investment in building and expanding schools and increasing the number of teachers in our schools,” says Maynier.
“Late applications – especially the extremely late applications – will continue to put our system under pressure each year. For example, we have received new, extremely late applications for 4 045 Grade 1 and Grade 8 learners since 1 January 2023 for the 2023 school year, including 926 (in March).”
Maynier continues that the challenge with late applications is that it is not possible to predict how many will be received, which grades, languages and locations.
“Placement of learners is therefore not straightforward as it relies on a variety of factors. This has made planning our resource allocation in advance extremely difficult,” he says.
“The Western Cape as a province has not declared any feeder zones for schools. Each school has its own admissions policy that is applied to all applications to the school. The policies differ from school to school – some include a preference for learners living close by. Parents have the option of appealing the decision of a school to the Minister,” he says.
“The decision to admit a learner to a school or not is made by the school itself, according to their admissions policy. The decision is not made by the WCED.”
While the department has held several application drives in various shopping malls and other areas, the online system remains the most accurate to assist the department in reducing the administrative burden for schools and officials, accuracy, reduction in travel and leave costs for parents and helps weed out illegal practices in admissions, says Maynier.
“The Department’s admissions website is zero-rated, so you do not need data to access it.
“Those who did not have access to a computer were able to apply in person at district offices. There were also various pop-up stalls at malls, selected schools, and other venues, where parents were able to bring their documents for assistance in applying,” he says.
“We open applications for a full month to ensure that parents have plenty of time to collect and submit their information and documents.”
Applications opened on Monday 13 March and will close on Friday 14 April.
“Whether a parent applies online or is assisted with the online application in person, this doesn’t affect placement. The decision to accept a learner to a school is made by the school, not by the online system,” says Maynier.
“The key step parents can take is to apply on time. When a parent applies on time during the month-long window, we are better able to plan for space for their child. Late applications are much more difficult to plan for and can delay placement. Parents should also apply to a number of schools (they can list up to 10 on the system) – we cannot guarantee that a parent will receive placement at their school of choice.”
