Parents frustrated at not being able to use admissions website

11 April 2016 - 18:47 By Bongekile Macupe

Scores of parents who wanted to use the Gauteng department of education admissions online application website were frustrated as they were unable to use it on Monday. On Sunday provincial MEC of education Panyaza Lesufi launched the system‚ obviating the need for parents to have to queue at schools in order to get their children admitted.Lesufi‚ who last month announced plans by the department to go completely online‚ said parents would be expected to apply online to get their children admitted to schools.However‚ Sowetan spoke to numerous frustrated parents who said they had been trying to use the online service since Monday morning but had been unable to.Some parents said the system was “unfair” as they did not have access to internet and would not have money to go to an internet cafe to use the online service.Thelma Sibeko who wants to enrol her child for Grade 8 at Bhukulani Secondary School in Soweto said the school was a stone's throw from her house and that she would have preferred walking to it and apply the old way rather than apply online.“At the school they did not even properly explain to us what we need to do to access this website. Instead we were given a piece of paper by security guards at the gate with the website (address) and said we were not allowed to apply at the school. No one even bothered to explain to us the steps we need to follow once we are in the website.“And I don't even have access to the internet so I don't know how much I would need if I go to the internet cafe‚ and you must remember they charge per hour so I don't know whether it will take me an hour or two hours to apply. It's really unfair and the department did not consider the inconvenience it has caused parents‚” Mazibuko said.Parents Thando Dlephu and Zandi Mahlubi said since they had got to work in the morning they had been trying to access the online service but had had no luck.Dlephu said she has to apply for her son who is going to Grade 8 next year and her younger sister who is going to Grade 5.“The whole day I have been sitting on this thing and I have not gone far. At one point it gives you an error message and next you go in but you are unable to register. It's really frustrating and my worry is that time is going to run out and I would have not applied if it's difficult to even register‚” Dlephu said. Mahlubi said the website was not “user friendly” and there was no guarantee that it is effective if you can't even go in to get a username and a password.“They should have just left us to use the old system of applying at schools‚ and they should have also anticipated that it would crash as many parents want to apply as early as possible. It's really annoying‚” she said.In a statement‚ the department said it had temporarily suspended the online application website until Wednesday “due to unforeseen technical challenges”.“The department is currently attending to these technical challenges to ensure that the website is up and running by Wednesday‚” said the department.TMG Digital/Sowetan ..

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