Gauteng MEC for Education, Matome Chiloane, has committed himself to reopening some of the 16 Soweto schools that have closed .
Chiloane, on Sunday, provided an overview of the province’s state of readiness for the upcoming National Senior Certificate (NSC) exams, including the province’s online admissions placements for Grades 1 and 8 learners for the 2026 academic year.
He said some of the schools were shut down due to massive infrastructure challenges which have resulted in overcrowding, with the DA in the province saying at least 41 public schools have been closed due to unsafe infrastructure and poor long-term planning by the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE).
“For the 2026 academic year, we have seen a lot of major infrastructure challenges. We will be embarking on major infrastructure development programmes to make sure that we are able to deal with the problem,” he stated.
Matome’s address comes as reports have indicated that the township of Soweto has seen the closure of at least 16 schools due to infrastructure challenges.
On the matric exams, the MEC indicated that the province has registered more than 192,745 candidates, who have been recorded to sit for this year’s National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations.
This he said includes more than 144,246 full-time candidates and 48,499 candidates registered as part-time learners.
Chiloane said that the province has more than 1,000 examination centres, which have been earmarked to conduct the examinations.
“We have 144,246 full-time candidates. And we’ve seen an increase of 8,195 from the previous academic year, 2024. The other 48,499 are the part-time candidates. We have 1,040 centres that are registered to conduct examinations, for both full-time and part-time,” he said.
When it comes to the placement of learners Chiloane stated: “The placement period will officially begin on Thursday, 16 October 2025. This is when placement offers will be sent to parents and guardians who have completed their applications. This year’s online applications for both grades closed at the end of August 2025.”
Chiloane added that GDE is set to invest in digital learning with interactive classrooms in township and primary schools, while strengthening support for special schools across the province.
“We as the department have introduced a total of 8,596 smart classrooms as part of our initiative to modernise learning spaces with state-of-the-art information and communications technology (ICT). The rollout prioritises township secondary schools and selected primary schools, in line with the GDE ICT Strategy,” he said.
Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane says Grade 1 and 8 parents can expect to start receiving offer letters from 16 October.
Chiloane was speaking during an update on the online admissions placements for Grades 1 and 8 learners for the 2026 academic year at Parktown High School for Girls in Johannesburg.
Online applications for both grades closed at the end of August.
Chiloane says failure to accept the offer within a period of seven days could affect a learner’s chances of securing a suitable school placement.
However, Chiloane has reassured parents not to panic if they do not receive a message by next Thursday.
” So, the happy SMSes will come on the 16th of October and we will be running with this up until we place all of them, 100%. So, from the 16th of October, parents will be getting messages, and those messages will come through the cellphone [number] that you have given to us, and that’s why I always emphasised on the importance of the cellphone number. Make sure that you put the correct number at all times. If you are struggling with the system, you can phone our hotline, our free number, there’s also WhatsApp, but don’t panic, don’t panic at all. No child will be left unplaced. They will go to school in the 2026 academy year.”
