Thousands of grade 1 and 8 pupils in Gauteng remain unplaced amid online system glitches, parental despair and district overloads — echoing national strains. With schools across South Africa set to reopen on Wednesday, 14 January, the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) is under severe pressure to place learners. A staggering 4,858 Grade 1 and Grade 8 pupils remain unplaced — 1,381 in Grade 1 and 3,477 in Grade 8.
The GDE said it “continues to release placement and transfer offers daily, supported by targeted interventions in high-pressure districts, to ensure that all remaining learners are placed as efficiently and fairly as possible, in line with regulated admissions criteria and available school capacity”. The late application window, which runs from 17 December to 30 January, has already received 11,183 submissions. Of these, 5,701 were for Grade 1 and 5,482 for Grade 8.
All processed late applications will result in final placements at the parent- or guardian-selected school, provided space is available. The GDE urged parents to visit their chosen school, starting on 14 January, to submit the required documents. The department said that most of the remaining unplaced learners were in Gauteng’s urban and metropolitan districts, which face ongoing strain from rapid population growth and limited school infrastructure.
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Ekurhuleni is the highest-pressure district, with 3,169 unplaced learners in the following areas: In Tshwane, there are only 14 unplaced learners, all in Tshwane North (Grade 1: 1; Grade 8: 13). There are 70 unplaced learners in Sedibeng East. The department said it had prioritised Ekurhuleni and Johannesburg, implementing district-based placement, the continued release of placement and transfer offers, and utilising available capacity in neighbouring schools.
Yet behind the department’s assurances, there are still hundreds of desperate parents looking to have their children placed. One parent, who wished to remain anonymous, detailed a monthslong ordeal to secure a Grade 1 spot for his child, a process that has spiralled into constant anxiety as the new academic year looms. “We were applying for Grade 1, on the first day the applications came out in July [2025]. We applied for three schools, which are within the area that we know and where the kid was at crèche last year,” he said.
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