The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) has so far successfully processed over 165 000 Grade 1 & 8 applications through its Online Admissions System.

Online admissions for 2023 opened today, with the system experiencing a glitch with Google Maps when the application period got underway.

“[The system] experienced a challenge with Google Maps when the application period for Grade 1 & 8 opened this morning.

“The GDE Online Admissions System was temporarily restricted by Google Maps due to reaching a maximum of 6 000 requests per minute, which resulted in parents not being able to view and select schools when applying.

“Subsequently, this challenge was effectively resolved within 30 minutes after the system opened at 08:00 AM, and parents were able to proceed with their applications.

“We sincerely apologise to parents and guardians for the inconvenience they encountered when our system opened for applications.

“We thank our technicians for swiftly resolving the matter, which has led us to processing a massive amount of successful applications on the very first day,” said Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi.

The 2023 Online Admissions application period will continue until 19 August 2022.

Parents and guardians are urged to either upload certified copies of the required documents onto the system, or submit them at the schools they applied to within seven school days.

Parents are also encouraged to visit district offices and decentralised walk-in centres to be assisted with applying.

For further assistance, applicants can call the GDE contact centre on 0800 000 789 or send a message on WhatsApp to 060 891 0361.

Source: South African Government News Agency