The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) is implementing a comprehensive strategy for managing the impact of the recent xenophobic attacks on education in the province.

The WCED’s initial response after the attacks in mid-May 2008 was to identify sites accommodating displaced children of school-going age and to arrange schooling where necessary in conjunction with local schools, volunteers and donors.

In the end, the estimated 18 000 internally displaced people in the province appear to include relatively few learners. Numbers fluctuate, but the latest statistics suggest that about 137 are affected.

Nevertheless, the WCED is supporting these learners, in line with the three-pronged strategy of the provincial government, to ensure safety and stability, relief and reintegration of local communities.

The WCED has adopted a phased approach, by providing educational support to learners in various sites in the short-term, and by paving the way to reintegrating learners in school.

While numbers in sites appear to relatively small, the challenge of dealing with the issue of xenophobia in schools and society generally is a larger issue and will be addressed systematically in the medium to longer term.

In the long term, schools will play a key role in reintegrating and stabilising communities torn by xenophobic attacks.

The WCED has used its computer-based learner tracking system to identify about 3 104 immigrant learners in Western Cape schools from other African countries.

Officials have contacted schools to monitor absenteeism of these learners to obtain an idea of how many may have been affected by the attacks. The results show that the majority of these learners are attending school as usual.

Senior officials are visiting all known sites accommodating displaced people in greater Cape Town and the southern Cape. Most of the children found in the sites are infants or pre-school children.

Sites with children of school-going age include the Silverstream camp near Atlantis (6); community halls in Bothasig (8), Richmond (20), Summer Greens (8); His People Church, Goodwood (31); and the Lighthouse Church (31); and the Youngsfield camp (38).

Some of these learners previously attended schools in the Western Cape. Others include new arrivals and some learners who have never been to school.

A volunteer teacher has been teaching 30 learners at Soetwater, but no teaching has been taking place there since Monday, given tensions at the camp.

Teachers are teaching on a rotational basis at Silverstream and at His People church. The Metropole South Education District is in the process of appointing a teacher at Youngsfield.

Displaced learners at some sites are making their own way to school. In some cases, schools are providing transport and food to learners in nearby sites so that they can attend school.

The WCED will continue to monitor every site accommodating children and will respond appropriately. The department has contingency plans to deal with four scenarios, namely:

• Providing access to learning in sites
• Reintegrating learners in their former schools
• Integrating learners in schools close to relevant sites, and
• Using existing schools to accommodate displaced learners after school hours.

The WCED has deployed senior managers to clusters of sites to monitor learner numbers and needs in conjunction with district officials. Special arrangements have been made to fast-track provision of equipment and materials where necessary.

Meanwhile, the WCED’s Curriculum Directorate is developing resource packs to support teaching and learning on the issue of xenophobia. The packs will include lesson plans and leaflets and will be aimed at all levels within the schooling system.

The WCED will encourage a range of activities, including visits by schools to relief centres, lunch-time talks, special school assemblies, school debates, talks by outside presenters, essay writing competitions, art competitions and working with other agencies to mobilise support for relief centres.

Schools have a crucial role to play in combating xenophobia and in facilitating reintegration. Many schools are already playing this role, which we find very encouraging.

We have invited schools to report "acts of kindness" as well as issues that need addressing that may involve xenophobia.

Feedback to date has shown that schools have responded very well, through various activities, including collections of food and clothing, visits to sites, internal programmes and at least one march against xenophobia.

The WCED’s Metropole North District is working with a school with an immigrant population of about 50% on how best to deal with xenophobia and is working out a programme which we will probably use in other schools.

Schools will have an important role to play to facilitate reintegration in the medium to long term and the WCED will continue to work with schools to ensure successful reintegration.