"Only 25 000 Form One Boarding School Places Available"
There are only 25 000 Form One boarding school places available for the 2024 academic year, a senior government official has said.
This year, about 393 000 candidates sat the Grade Seven Zimbabwe School Examination Council (ZIMSEC), with most of them expected to proceed to Form One next year.
The ZIMSEC Grade 7 results are set to be released on Friday, 01 December.
An average 100 000 learners apply for Form One places at both public and private boarding schools annually through the Electronic Ministry Application Platform (EMAP).
EMAP is an online system that allows parents and guardians to apply for Form One boarding school places for their children.
In an interview with The Sunday Mail, Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education communications and advocacy director, Taungana Ndoro, said the portal, which opened on 01 November will close on 15 January 2024. Said Ndoro:
All applications will be done through the EMAP system; in the past, there have been challenges, with the system becoming too busy in the last days, resulting in most parents having challenges accessing the network.
This time, we have been working round the clock to ensure everything runs smoothly.
However, applications need to be done as early as possible to save ourselves the last-minute rush and challenges.
We have around 25 000 boarding places available for Form Ones for January 2024.
However, we have not yet established how many learners have registered on the platform so far.
The Government has already set 09 January 2024, as the opening day for Form One classes at public boarding schools.
Ndoro said direct enrolment at schools will not be permitted, adding that parents should make up their minds regarding the applications as the system is not programmed to make changes. He said:
EMAP eliminates any room for corruption; the system was crafted to protect parents because they were being ripped off by corrupt school authorities.
Parents, guardians and learners are also warned that they should be sure of the choices they make the first time because there will be no room for them to make changes later.
Parents love the transparency the system provides, but let me hasten to warn that the system is not editable.
Once you enter your (school) preferences, you cannot then come back tomorrow and say I want to make changes to my choice of schools.
EMAP platform was launched by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education in 2017.
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