 GDE Online Applications for 2019 Admissions Open Joberg Goten Department of Education officially opens 2019 applications and urges parents to act swiftly. The Goten Department of Education has officially opened a 2019 online application system for grade 1 and 8 admissions, and the online application system is expected to close on May 28, 2018 at midnight. The department said the online application system is convenient for parents, as they can apply from their PC, mobile smartphones, or tablet at any time. Using the online system has made the applications process transparent and fair, thus eliminating manipulation and human indiscretions. Parents can check the status of the application by logging on to the system. This means that the department has a statistical view of data of all applications made, said the department. To curb the duplication and multiplication of profiles for one child, the system now recognizes children based on their ID numbers. We appeal to parents to safely keep their SMSES and other communication generated by the online system. That is profiles created to log on online, the list of documents requested, as well as offers of placement. Parents must, therefore, provide their own cell phone number to enable communication with the department. The department appealed to parents to apply online and on time, as placement is expected to start on July 18 and close on October 31 this year. Parents are urged to confirm or decline placement offers within seven days of receiving the offer, as it will fast track placement at the relevant schools. Failure to confirm or decline an offer will result in the offer being withdrawn. We are humbled by the overwhelmingly positive response from parents and promise to do everything possible to make the experience incident free, said the department. Parents are urged to visit www.gdeadmissions.gov.za to apply and follow the detailed step-by-step guideline on the GDE's admissions website. The department said that parents can apply for a maximum of five schools per child. Any parent who lacks access to the internet or requires face-to-face assistance is advised to visit one of the decentralized application centers for a community library. The department said it will operate 65 admissions centers across the 15 education districts.