Cape Town - Thousands of pupils across the country will start their schooling careers or return to class for the start of the new academic year on Wednesday.
Western Cape Education Department (WCED) spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said the department was prepared and ready for the start of the 2020 school year.
She said textbook and stationery orders were delivered by the end of October, and staff had been informed of their schedules.
“A 2020 planning calendar for schools was sent in September which provides a schedule of important dates for training programmes, meetings, tests and examinations, religious observances and other administrative deadlines in order to aid schools’ planning,” she said.
Hammond said the department’s vision for education in the Western Cape remained clear: to achieve quality education for every child, in every classroom, in every school in the province.
Dave Bloom and his son Jackson Bloom, who will be going to Gr2 at Kenridge Primary, are trying on new school shoes at School and Leisure near Willowbridge. Picture: Henk Kruger/African News Agency(ANA)
She said one of the greatest challenges the department faced this year was budget cuts, which would affect delivery, especially with regards to infrastructure. “We are doing everything we can to protect our teaching posts,” she said.
ANC deputy chief whip in the provincial legislature and the party’s spokesperson on education Khalid Sayed said one of the main challenges in the province was the overcrowding in schools.
“This speaks directly to the issue of skewed patterns of resourcing and budgeting in education. While many schools in poor communities will be overcrowded and have long waiting lists, those in affluent communities will run smoothly with acceptable teacher-to-learner ratios.”