- The Western Cape Education Department is “exploring all available options” to find placement for thousands of learners yet to find placement for the 2024 academic year.
- In order to accommodate all learners who apply for the 2024 academic year, the WCED plans to build nine new school as well as 496 classrooms in areas of high demand.
- Thousands of learners are expected to apply during the first term of the new school year.
With a R716,4 million budget cut and schools at full capacity, the Western Cape Education Department is “exploring all available options” to find placement for thousands of learners yet to find placement for the 2024 academic year.
As of Monday 11 December last year, a total of 120 778 or 99,43% of learners for Grade 1 and 8 had received placement for the new school year.
In a statement Western Cape Minister of Education David Maynier said late applications continued to arrive.
“As a department, we are asking parents to work with us as we try to accommodate their children as soon as possible.”
In order to accommodate all learners who apply for the 2024 academic year, the WCED plans to build nine new school as well as 496 classrooms in areas of high demand.
“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.
“Our officials and schools are working hard 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 whose parents have already applied.”
Maynier explained while parents were encouraged to apply during the admissions application window between Monday 13 March and Friday 14 April last year, thousands of learners are expected to apply during the first term of the new school year. “We provided pop-up sites across the province for parents to be assisted if they could not apply online. And our district offices have been accepting walk in applications since the online applications closed.
“Despite this, we know that many thousands of learners will arrive in the first term next year needing placement. We do not know where they will seek placement, or what their grades, languages, ages, or subject choices will be. “This makes planning our resource allocation for these extremely late applicants in advance very difficult, and their parents will have to wait some time before their child is placed.”
He added that Western Cape schools are currently at full capacity. “We will work to place every learner for whom an application is received going forward, but we want to be clear that Western Cape schools are full, and thus we appeal for patience from parents submitting new applications as they may not be placed before the end of the first term.”
