Cape Town - With a few days left to go before the Western Cape Department of Education closes its 2024 online application process, parents and guardians of school-going children are called on to apply if they haven’t already done so.
Education MEC David Maynier’s office said that as of Wednesday afternoon April 5, 2023, the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) received applications for 103 796 learners.
In some cases, parents are applying for more than one child approximately 342 497 applications, the department said.
The 2024 online application process is open until a stroke before midnight on April 14.
Maynier said it was important for parents to apply on time for the coming school year to assist the department in appropriately planning more places for their children.
He said the WCED also needed the data from its admissions system to understand exactly where there was additional demand, to better provide necessary resources and infrastructure in time for the start of the school, next year.
“This includes valuable data on the number of learners that require placement in specific areas, their grades, and their language preferences.
“The earlier we have this information, the better, which is why we appeal especially to parents of Grade 1 and 8 learners to apply before the deadline,” Maynier penned in a statement.
He also commented that the department was concerned that, according to its records, parents of over 44 000 learners currently in Grade 7 had not yet submitted applications for their children for Grade 8 next year.
Maynier said the department was appealing to the parents or guardians of these learners to submit applications throughout this week.
Parents who experience technical problems can log a query using the “contact us” option at the top of the admissions page, we will assist parents with technical issues to resolve every problem as soon as possible, Maynier said.