The Western Cape Department of Education (WCED) is unable to build 21 new schools and will instead build 10 in the province due to national budget cuts.
WCED spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said last year’s R790 million budget cut means the department can now only build 10 schools.
Hammond explains: “Those cuts hit our infrastructure budget the most. Our conditional grant for infrastructure was cut by R179 million, and then a further R243 million had to be taken off our infrastructure budget.”
Two of the 10 schools are for special needs and an additional three are replacement schools.
A replacement school is built at the existing site, replacing an old building.
She adds: “The three replacement schools will also add additional capacity for the 2024 school year.
“In addition, there are classrooms being constructed at existing schools to provide additional accommodation.
“In total, our revised plan aims to deliver 608 additional classrooms across the province, which is still more than double the average number built annually before 2022/2023, despite the infrastructure budget cut.
Asked about the impact that this would have on the placement of learners this year, the WCED said that as of 22 November 2023, it has allocated places for 119 110, or 98.7 percent, of the learners for whom 2024 applications were received for Grades 1 and 8.
The department says: “While we have placed 99.4 percent of learners, it is not yet clear how many extremely late applications we will receive and where they will be required.”
The WCED will be reviewing the numbers of learners at schools following the 10-day snap survey. The survey is done after 10 school days to allow the system to settle.
It adds: “The WCED then uses that data to determine where we need to allocate additional resources, such as teachers, furniture, equipment, etc. We also use the data to determine where there could be further placement opportunities.”
zolani.sinxo@inl.co.za