Cape Town - As budget cuts continue to affect the building of schools in the province, Darling is set to see its first high school, which comes with a price tag of R70 million, allocated by the Western Cape Provincial Treasury.
The town was earmarked by the Swartland Municipality in the 2014/2015 Integrated Development Plan, for having a great need for a high school.
High school pupils travel to surrounding schools in Atlantis, Malmesbury and Moorreesburg.
In 2018, the Western Cape Provincial Treasury allocated a R70 million budget for the school and the start of construction was set for April 1, 2021.
Education MEC David Maynier said, “The national government dealt a massive R716.4m blow to our ability to build and maintain schools, and pay teachers, in November.”
“As a result, we faced a devastating R248 million cut specifically to our infrastructure budget within the current financial year.
“So some difficult decisions had to be made as a result of this devastating cut. We had to redirect our remaining budget to the most in demand and critical areas.
“We have managed to proceed with the building of 10 new schools and approximately 500 classrooms, but Darling High School was one of the schools that had to be put on hold.
“The Darling high school project has, however, been retained as a priority and a final decision on the project will be made as soon as the provincial budget has been allocated for the medium term between 2024/25 and 2026/27.”
The budget cut announcement was made late last year and Maynier’s office said that over the past 5 years, on average, the number of learners in schools had increased by 19 000 each year.
He said at the time, that to address the issue of placement, the largest budget they had seen was allocated
in March 2023, including R2.9 billion to build 21 new schools and 289 classrooms at existing schools.
Their Rapid School Build programme, implemented in 2022, delivered 788 classrooms.
But in June 2023, the plan came to a halt when the treasury announced dramatic cuts to provincial funding.
Mart-Marie Haasbek, of Swartland Municipality communications, said the Darling high school project was delayed on several occasions, but that councillors had stepped in to advocate the need for the town.
“Swartland Municipality worked tirelessly to ensure that as soon as the green light was given, we were implementation ready,” she said.
“The project faced another significant stumbling block at the end of 2023, due to the massive budget cuts.
“Swartland Municipality again met the Western Cape Department of Education and at the end of January the department agreed to start construction of the new school immediately.”
The first phase will see the building of 10 classrooms and the school will open its doors for grade 8 and 9 learners next year.
A total of 600 learners will be taken in the first phase and the school’s capacity is should increase by 1120.
Executive Mayor Harold Cleophas said he was grateful to the ward councillors and the administration of the municipality, for their persistence.
“We are incredibly happy and relieved. It will bring renewed hope to our residents who no longer have to face the prospect of sending their children away to other towns for an education,” he said.
Professor Kobus Maree of the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Pretoria (UP) told Weekend Argus that budget cuts continued to affect education.
“The larger issue lies in the persistent challenges within the education system, despite substantial allocations.
“These include unequal teaching and learning opportunities, a significant portion of students leaving school without skills, and overall under-performance despite ample funding.
“Our education system has consistently failed to utilise its massive education budgets effectively.
“What is crucial is meticulous planning, comprehensive consultation at all levels, strategic expenditure, and addressing issues of corruption and inefficiency in spending.”
genevieve.serra@inl.co.za