By Thapelo Molefe
Gauteng has 405,627 available school places for the 2027 academic year, but the province says a mismatch between where capacity exists and where families want their children to attend is fuelling overcrowding at popular schools.
The Gauteng Department of Education received 805,688 applications for Grade 1 and Grade 8 for 2027, representing 346,877 individual learners after accounting for parents who applied to multiple schools.
Gauteng Education MEC Lebogang Maile said at a press briefing on Sunday about online placements and admissions for 2027 that the figures show that the province’s problem is not simply a shortage of school places, but the concentration of demand in particular areas and schools.
“We have 405,627 available spaces. So in theory, we don’t have a problem,” Maile said.
However, he said the available capacity could not simply be used to accommodate learners because parents’ demand is heavily concentrated around certain schools.
At Grade 8 level, Hoërskool Langenhoven in Tshwane West received 3,462 applications, while Alberton High School received 2,756, Katlehong Secondary School 2,747, Katlehong Engineering School of Specialisation 2,573 and Parktown Boys’ High School 2,448.
At Grade 1 level, Laerskool Akasia received 1,355 applications, followed by Palmridge Primary School with 1,330, Alston Primary School with 1,207, Lakeside Primary School with 1,162 and Stoneridge Primary School with 1,153.
Maile said the department could not move learners from one part of the province to another simply because another school had available classrooms.
“I went to a school in Sebokeng. I think they’ve got space for about 500. There’s space for about 500, but it’s in Sebokeng. And then if you go to a school here in Alex, there are 500 more or 1,000 more, but Alex is here. So you can’t take those kids from Alex to Sebokeng because they stay here in Alex,” he said.
Maile said the department needed to rethink how existing capacity across Gauteng’s public schools is used, rather than continually expanding schools that are already popular.
He said the pressure was particularly difficult when thousands of parents selected a school that could accommodate only a fraction of the applications.
The department said placement would therefore have to follow its prescribed criteria, including the learner’s home address and proximity to the school.
Other factors include whether the learner has a sibling at the school, the learner’s previous school in the case of Grade 8 applicants, the parent’s work address and whether the learner lives within 30 kilometres of the school.
Where none of the schools selected by a parent has available space, the department may offer a place at the next closest school with capacity.
Maile said the concentration of learners at popular schools also had consequences beyond admissions.
“Unfortunately, where there’s overcrowding, there’s many other social problems because sometimes kids don’t have enough furniture and that becomes a source of fights amongst learners. There’s bullying, gangsterism, and all those issues,” he said.
The province is also facing pressure to increase capacity as Gauteng’s population grows and new residential areas develop.
Maile said the department had identified the need to build at least 200 schools, which he estimated would require at least R35 billion.
“Those schools include some of the schools that are just temporary schools,” he said.
The department said it was considering a combination of permanent infrastructure, public-private partnerships, alternative construction methods and mobile classrooms to respond to demand.
It is also considering whether leasing mobile classrooms could be more practical than buying them in areas where enrolment pressures are temporary or likely to shift.
At the same time, Maile said the province needed to make better use of existing facilities, including underused libraries, while expanding hybrid and e-learning.
“If you’ve got, for instance, libraries, which are not utilised and classrooms are full, you can still have kids going to those libraries and we teach them from there,” he said.
The department said placement offers for learners with complete applications are scheduled to begin on 15 October.
Parents will receive offers by SMS and will have seven days to accept or decline an offer. Placement will continue through the remainder of the year as the department works to accommodate all learners.
Maile said the goal was to have as many learners placed as possible before January to reduce the disruption that typically accompanies the start of the school year.
The department has also warned parents against paying people who claim they can secure school places, saying such payments amount to corruption and cannot guarantee admission.
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