Electronic form 1 boarding school enrolment opens November 1

The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education will open the electronic enrolment process for Form One pupils seeking boarding school placements on Friday, November 1. The enrolment system, managed through the Electronic Ministry Application Platform (EMAP), will run until December 31, 2024, aiming to streamline the selection process and curb recruitment irregularities.

EMAP, introduced in 2016, allows parents and guardians to apply for boarding places across Zimbabwe, where demand far outweighs availability. Despite over 400,000 pupils sitting for Grade Seven exams this year, boarding schools can accommodate only 25,000 students.

According to a Ministry circular, the application platform will go live on Friday, November 1, enabling each applicant to apply to a maximum of five schools. Once a place is offered by one school, applicants will no longer be eligible to apply to or be considered by other schools unless the initial offer is declined.

"Successful applicants will be notified via SMS by the respective school heads," the Ministry noted. "However, as boarding places are limited, parents and guardians are advised to prepare alternative arrangements if a boarding place is not secured."

Application statuses will display as “Pending” (under review), “Accepted” (place offered), or “Rejected” (application unsuccessful). If an application is accepted, all other pending applications will be marked as “Processed” to finalize the selection process.

This structured approach seeks to provide parents with a transparent and efficient method for securing school placements, while reducing the burden of managing high application volumes across schools nationwide.