Cape Town - Premier Alan Winde says the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) is working to the best of its ability to place and provide appropriate education for existing and incoming learners despite increasing figures annually.
Winde remarked on the phenomenon during his State of the Province Address (Sopa) while speaking on intervention the province had instituted to meet the “rising” demand for school positions in the Western Cape.
According to Winde, the number of learners in Western Cape schools had grown by an average of 17 900 learners every year for the past five years.
“This year we have already placed more than 120 000 Grade 1 and Grade 8 learners and are in the process of placing the remaining 1 400 learners, the vast majority of whom were extremely late applications made in January this year,” he said.
To maintain the province’s standard of education and manage its increasing learner population, Winde revealed that the Western Cape Education Department recently appointed 1 143 additional teachers and would not be stopping there.
He said during the course of the year the WCED, with the support of the government, has plans to add a further 430 first-level educators.
Winde also commented on the impact of load shedding on the schooling system, stating that despite the constant disruptions caused by insistent power outages, the WCED was working to keep the curriculum on track through innovative interventions, including the installation of solar panels at some schools.
“Forty-one schools have entered into agreements with eight companies to install solar power solutions and in addition to this, the department is helping schools to replace traditional light fittings with energy-efficient ones.
“Twenty-five schools have also received funding in the 2022/23 school year to fit LED lights. The department is also investigating installing solar PV panels at all new and replacement schools.”