THE ministry of Primary and Secondary Education yesterday said online applications for Form 1 places at boarding schools will close on Monday.
This comes as the Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (Zimsec) also revealed yesterday that Grade 7 results would be released early next month.
Speaking to the Daily News, director of communication in the ministry of Education, Taungana Ndoro said pupils did not need their Grade 7 results to apply online for Form 1 places.
He said the results would be uploaded as soon as they were available, and then schools would start the selection process.
“The portal allows the Grade 7s to start their application process and select the schools they want. However, they will be able to feed their results into the system once they are available and only then schools start the selection process. Zimsec has not yet said when the results will be out,” Ndoro said.
He said the reopening date of schools was not yet out and urged parents and schools to remain guided by the timelines previously announced by Cabinet.
“Back to school preparations are at an advanced stage and schools in all the country’s 10 provinces are working to ensure that they reopen for the first term offering a safe learning environment for learners in line with all set Covid-19 regulations and guidelines.
“More guidelines for the term will be communicated as soon as opening dates are out. However, parents and teachers should stand guided by the timelines that have been previously communicated by the cabinet,” Ndoro said.
He added that the online application for Form 1 boarding school places which was opened on December 13 would close on January 31 and urged parents who wish to send children to boarding school to try and meet the deadline.
“The Form 1 boarding school online application is still open, but it will be closing on December 31. Likewise, we urge parents to make use of this time left and secure places for learners. They should stand guided that there are limited boarding school places available, especially now with Covid-19 regulations. Therefore, delaying until the last minute may lead to failure to secure places,” said Ndoro.
He further noted that learners could apply to a maximum of five schools at any given time, but highlighted that they could only accept one offer in order to avoid dual placements which result in some learners failing to secure places.
He advised parents to start making necessary preparations.
“Parents should prepare now as opening dates are drawing near although the actual date is yet to be announced. Start buying stationery, uniforms and everything else needed to avoid last minute rushes that may affect learners,” Ndoro added.
Meanwhile, Zimsec public relations manager Nicky Dlamini told the Daily News that Grade 7 results would be released in early February to ensure that prospective Form 1 pupils get them in time for schools reopening.
“We are looking into releasing them in early February so that learners may be able to have them in time for the anticipated schools opening. We are working on them and they should be out soon,” she said.
by
Andile Tshuma
in BULAWAYO