Cape Town - The Department of Transport and Public Works (DTPW) and the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) have revealed that 28 replacement school projects had been listed over the next three years.
Gerrit Coetzee, director: Physical Resource Planning and Property Management at the WCED, said the adjusted budget stated that R553.027 million was allocated to the DTPW for replacement and maintenance in 2021/22.
Coetzee said the replacement school sub-programme budget amounted to R161.573m.
Some of the schools on the list included KwaFaku Primary School in Philippi, Turfhall Primary School in Belthorn Estate and Harmony Primary School in Steenberg.
Education standing committee chairperson in the legislature, Lorraine Botha, said the efforts by the departments aimed to replace existing school structures with ones that allow for long-term capacity.
Botha said the remaining funds were earmarked for 151 preventive maintenance projects, and, in doing so, prevented any costly and unplanned maintenance in the future.
This was revealed by the departments during a briefing at the standing committee on education in the legislature on Tuesday.
“Despite the challenges faced by the education portfolio, we can see how our provincial department stands head and shoulders above the rest. As of now, there are 15 schools which are planned to be upgraded or replaced in 2021/22.
“This is in addition to 129 mobile classrooms delivered thus far, with 173 more in the process of being delivered,” Botha said.
ANC provincial spokesperson for education, Khalid Sayed, said the meeting confirmed their view that Education MEC Debbie Schäfer does not have a clear plan to build new schools in poor working-class communities affected by the crisis of unplaced learners and overcrowded classrooms.
Sayed said despite it being clear that the root cause for those challenges was the shortage of schools and insufficient placement spaces, the WCED and DTPW explained that the issue of building brick-and-mortar schools was always a last resort.
“It is concerning that the WCED treats this matter as a short-term problem, when in fact it has been a thorny issue for so many years,” he said.
Responding to Sayed, Schäfer said: “It seems we were in a different meeting.”
African Christian Democratic Party provincial leader Ferlon Christians said the overcrowding of schools and the inability by the WCED to place learners timeously was of great concern.
Christians said the roll-out of the mobile classrooms was an interim measure to accommodate learners.
“I have asked the WCED to give the committee the assurance that unplaced learners have access to learning material. They indicated that there is that initiative in the district,” he said.
sisonke.mlamla@inl.co.za