WCED gives parents grace to apply for 2024 school year

The Western Cape’s Education Department (WCED) has given parents/caregivers more time to apply for their child’s 2024 school admission.

The month-long window in which parents could apply for place for their children in a Western Cape school in 2024 closed at 23:59 on Friday, 14 April 2023.

During the admissions window, the WCED said they received applications for 156 150 learners for the 2024 school year.

‘’With parents applying for more than one school for their children, the total number of individual applications for placement and transfer to schools received is 503 763. We thank the parents who put in the effort to applying on time and helping us to plan for a place for their child in a school next year,’’ said David Maynier, Education MEC.

Maynier said all applications received after the deadline will be considered late applications. These applications will only be considered by schools after they have considered the applications received on time.

‘’Parents will still be able to capture applications on the online system, but they will be flagged as late applications. The deadline for late applications will be 25 May 2023. It is imperative that parents do not delay applying any further. By doing so, it will affect our planning processes and could result in delays in placing your child.’’

PICTURE: WCED

The MEC added that parents who logged a query for technical assistance with the WCED team before the deadline will be considered to have applied on time.

Parents will know the outcomes of their applications online from 29 May 2023, this leaves schools with just over a month to consider all the applications they have received, prior to the 14 April deadline.

‘’Parents are reminded that they do not need to drop off their certified hard copies at this stage. They will only need to do so once they have received an offer from a school and accepted the offer as their final choice of school. Parents must then accept or decline successful offers and we encourage them to do so as quickly as possible. More details will be released closer to the time.’’

‘’It is especially important for parents to confirm their choice of school speedily when they have received offers from multiple schools. These parents are essentially ‘double parking’ on the system, stopping schools from offering these places to other applicants until they make their choice,’’ added Maynier.

He warned that should a parent not confirm the school of their choice, the system will automatically confirm their top-ranked school that has made an offer. All other offers will then be removed, added Maynier, so that those places can be offered to other learners.

‘’Parents who do not receive an offer of a place should not be disheartened: places always open up as parents confirm their final choices. We will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to place every learner whose parents applied on time as quickly as possible,’’ said David maynier, Education MEC.

 

Done By: Mitchum George