Western Cape schools are now full

Statement by Minister David Maynier, Minister of Education Western Cape

Earlier this week Premier Alan Winde joined for a site visit to Rosendaal High School in Delft, where we are constructing a new Junior High School campus as part of our unprecedented school infrastructure delivery programme, which aims to deliver 842 new classrooms with at least 26 000 places for the 2023 school year.

Infrastructure update

We have already completed 347 classrooms, with the remaining classrooms underway.  I thank all the officials, government partners, contractors and school staff who are working tirelessly to get the job done.

The Rosendaal Junior High School campus is being constructed through our Rapid School Build Programme, which seeks to bring together various stakeholders with the aim of developing and building seven schools within six months to accommodate up to 3 200 learners.

The management, speed and cooperation in the Rapid School Build Programme differentiates it from typical projects, and it also incorporates new building technologies. Our contractors have been very receptive to the programme, and will be working through the traditional builders’ holidays to help us deliver more places for learners. They have already made great progress in a short period of time.

Premier Alan Winde echoed my sentiments at the site visit, saying: “The speed and quality of the work is inspiring. Thank you to the contractors, their teams and colleagues in the Department who are working through the builders’ holidays to meet the demands of this project, so that our learners have quality learning spaces in the 2023 school year. And thanks to the residents of Delft for supporting this build and the construction noise going into the night.”

Admissions update

We have made tremendous progress in placing learners for the 2023 school year in the Western Cape.

As of 20 December 2022, we have placed 111 616, or 99 %, of the Grade 1 and Grade 8 learners for the 2023 school year, and are in the process of placing 680, or 1%, of the Grade 1 and Grade 8 learners for the 2023 school year.

We have placed 50 160 more Grade 1 and 8 learners than this time last year. 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, the education system is still under immense pressure: our schools are full, and we are going to struggle to place learners whose parents only apply on arrival in January next year.

Which is why it is so important for communities to support us in delivering the new schools and classrooms we will need, and we must all work together to prioritise the delivery of school infrastructure for our children.

Media Enquiries:
Kerry Mauchline
Spokesperson to Minister David Maynier
Western Cape Ministry of Education
Kerry.Mauchline@westerncape.gov.za