Cape Town - Although the new school year in the Western Cape kicked off with few glitches, the provincial government has warned that diminishing budgets, safety, overcrowded classrooms and a shortage of teachers will plague schools.
Debbie Schäfer, Western Cape MEC for Education, said more than a million learners started the 2018 school year. She said 106 015 Grade 1s started school across the province. Schäfer and some of her department’s officials visited Levana Primary School in Lavender Hill.
“It was heart-warming to see so many parents there to accompany their children to school on their first day. At Levana, learners are met at the school gates by school safety officers. While many were very brave as they bid farewell to their parents, there were also some tears shed as parents stood at the school fence to watch their little ones enter the next stage of their life,” Schäfer added.
She, however, said her biggest concerns were safety while budget cuts remained her biggest challenge.
“We are forced to cut budgets, because of the economic situation and it that has an impact on our schools and the number of teachers we employ. The amount of learners we have cannot be matched by our budget. There is simply not enough resources for all the learners we have to cater for,” Schäfer said.
“We get our money from Treasury through an equitable share, but that is totally out of our control. We make do with the resources we have and plan ahead. We need to build about 18 more schools to accommodate the learners, but the funds we have cannot sustain everyone,” she said.
Safety and vandalism are also of concerns, she said.
ANC provincial secretary Faiez Jacobs said the shortage of teachers and overcrowded classrooms were their biggest concerns.
“The poorer schools are always the ones who are lagging behind. We need a more serious investment into the education of our children on the Cape Flats. Their schools are not safe and they lack resources not only in their school buildings, but also in the learning materials,” he said.
Jacobs also said the overcrowded classrooms remains a challenge. “We need more teachers to cater for the growing number of learners. The number of learners is outgrowing the amount of teachers,” he said.
About 11 000 children in the province have not yet been placed in schools.
Schäfer said the learners would be accommodated at schools where there were available spots.
She said because most of the preparations were completed well before the end of last year, there was a smooth start to the school year.
“Publishers had delivered all textbooks ordered by schools via the WCED’s online textbook ordering system at the end of last year. Schools will place top-up orders should they experience unexpected growth in enrolment. Suppliers have delivered additional desks, chairs and other items of furniture requested by schools for 2018,” she said. The department had ordered extra PVC classrooms and would relocate these, as required and final placement would depend on where they were needed the most, Schäfer said.
“It takes between six and eight weeks to install the classrooms. The WCED will have a clearer idea of shifts in enrolment after the 10-day snap survey later in January,” Schäfer added.
jason.felix@inl.co.za