Following a highly successful registration season, Vodacom Business and the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) are celebrating the positive outcomes delivered by the upgraded Online Admissions platform for the 2026 school year. The new system provided a smarter, simpler, and more transparent admissions experience for parents and department officials alike.
“Vodacom Business has been a longstanding technology partner to the GDE,” says Videsha Proothveerajh, Vodacom Business Director.
“The project gave us the opportunity to provide our digital expertise to enhance the country’s education system. For parents, applying to schools can be an incredibly stressful process. Our aim for the platform was to support parents better and ensure that the application journey was simple while supporting the department’s goal of improving operational efficiency.”
When the Online Admissions platform launched on 24 July 2025, the system recorded over 78,000 applications for Grade 1 and Grade 8 within the first hour. By lunchtime that day, over 210,000 applications had been successfully processed. Upon the completion of the registration period, a total of 820,350 applications had been processed.
“The Online Admissions platform is one of the most important tools we have in ensuring fair access to quality education in Gauteng. By digitising and streamlining the admissions process, we are reducing barriers for parents, increasing transparency, and strengthening accountability within the Department. This system plays a significant role in building a modern, responsive, and people-centred education sector that truly serves every child in our province,” says MEC for Education in Gauteng, Matome Chiloane.
The zero-rated platform features a range of new enhancements for parents registering their children for Grade 1 and Grade 8, as well as tools designed to streamline the process for department officials.
Parents logging on found new filters that dynamically adjust qualification criteria based on uploaded documents. This helped eliminate irrelevant school options, assisted with decision-making, and ensured compliance with application rules.
To reduce mismatched placements, the platform now alerts parents to any conflict between their preferred language of instruction and the language offerings of their selected school. This feature ensures parents are fully informed before finalizing their application.
For GDE staff, the platform introduces new levels of visibility and control. A major update was the removal of the previous 50% automatic placement rule, helping to ensure placement decisions are more equitable and transparent.
Other features include a Transfer Management Table, which provides staff with a comprehensive display of all qualifying unplaced applications for each learner, enabling more efficient and informed transfer decisions.
The automated transfer function also returns, offering unplaced learners a spot based on proximity, language compatibility, and school capacity, significantly reducing manual workload and accelerating placements.
To ensure greater consistency, Vodacom and the GDE revised the objection letter template. The new version, issued under the authority of the District Director, strengthens governance across the appeals process.
“At Vodacom Business, we believe in the power of technology to transform communities and the lives of individuals. We’re proud to be using our tech capabilities to solve challenges in education, and we remain committed to supporting the department in driving digital transformation and connecting everyone to a better future,” concludes Proothveerajh.
