It’s back to school for thousands of learners across the province this morning, and the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) is looking forward to a fruitful academic year.
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Yesterday saw some 35,872 teachers and 7,578 public service staff returning to schools today to prepare for the arrival of over 1.2 million learners this morning.
All top-up textbooks ordered by schools were delivered by October 2022, at a cost of R62 million. In addition, stationery supplies worth R39 million, furniture worth R50 million, and other equipment worth R1.6 million were also delivered by December 2022.
The WCED is also currently implementing an unprecedented school infrastructure delivery programme and is confident that no learner will be left behind.
“We have already completed 561 classrooms for the first day of school as a result of work continuing through the traditional builders’ holiday, with the remaining classrooms underway to be completed in the coming weeks,” said MEC for Education, David Maynier. “To put this into perspective, 212 additional classrooms were completed in time for the opening of 2022 school year.”
According to Maynier, the WCED has made alternative arrangements to accommodate the learners while the final touches are put on the additional classrooms.
“This includes using alternative rooms within the schools temporarily, such as halls and computer labs, with the teachers that were allocated to the new class in advance of the school year. We are also looking at external venues where necessary, and in a small number of cases, schools will implement rotating timetables to ensure that learners can be accommodated.”
Maynier said that the WCED had resolved 117,844 or 99.2% of the Grade 1 and Grade 8 placement requests for the 2023 school year and was in the process of placing 955 or 0.8% of the Grade 1 and Grade 8 learners for the 2023 school year.
“This is an incredible achievement compared to recent years, with our officials and schools having placed 50 844 more Grade 1 and 8 learners than on this date last year. We are in the best possible position to kick off the school year given the high demand for placement.”
“Our officials and schools have done a phenomenal job under extreme pressure to make sure that they find a place for every child. We are leaving no stone unturned in our effort to place every learner, and we will continue to work to finalise placement for all remaining learners.”
However, despite this progress, the education system remains under severe admission pressure.
“Over the past 7 years, on average, 21 000 learners from outside the Western Cape have been registered in our province for the first time each year.”
“We have received 25 212 late applications for Grade 1 and 8 (after 15 April 2022) this year, including 272 extremely late applications received after schools closed on 15 December 2022. We expect to receive many more once schools reopen. It is very difficult to place learners at this extremely late stage, and parents arriving now must be prepared for a delay in the placement of their children.”
Maynier further urged any parents who have not yet applied for a place for their child to contact their education district office immediately.
“They must not queue up outside schools with the expectation of being accepted to their school of choice. Our schools are full, and while they may be able to assist with completing applications, the district office will assist with placement centrally.”
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Picture: Cape{town}Etc Library
