The Departmental spokesperson, Geoffrey van der Merwe, says the extension was done after careful consideration with regard to online admissions.

He says the deadline will be extended to Friday 9 October to enable parents and legal guardians to once again explore the channels of registering pupils.

The initial deadline for the registration was on Wednesday 30 September but this change of heart by the department gives parents and guardians another chance. This follows numerous requests for the extension. Before the initial deadline, over 30 000 applications of Grade R, 1, and 8 had been captured by the department.

Van der Merwe has further reiterated that parents and guardians need to apply to more than one school. He earlier said that the department noticed that most parents applied to only one school, which may pose challenges in terms of the placement when an application is regarded as unsuccessful. He says in this regard parents are encouraged to apply to more than one school because the Online Admission System allows for a learner to apply to a maximum of five schools for the 2021 school academic year.

OFM News