The Eastern Cape Department of Education has revealed that 849 learners remain unplaced across four districts for the 2026 academic year.
The unplaced learners are spread across Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, Nelson Mandela Bay, Sarah Baartman and Chris Hani West districts, representing 0.05% of the provincial learner population.
Declining learner enrolment
In a statement, the department shared that the placement difficulties come against the backdrop of a declining learner population across the province. The Eastern Cape is projecting enrolment of 1,747,354 learners for 2026, approximately 40,000 fewer than in 2025.
This continuing trend has reportedly had significant implications for the School Rationalisation and Realignment Programme, school resourcing and the provision of access-related facilities and services, the department noted.
Despite the placement challenges, the department announced it has received R529 million in the fourth tranche of the Education Infrastructure Grant from the National Department of Basic Education.
The funding arrived in two payments: R282.1 million on 26 November 2025 and R247 million on 19 December 2025.
The funds are particularly crucial following damage caused by adverse weather conditions during the December recess period, which left several schools in “terrible conditions.”
The department has declared some facilities disaster areas and appointed eight service providers to assess and repair the damaged schools to ensure they are suitable for teaching and learning.
Sanitation challenges
The department further shared that 427 pit latrines remain across the province, highlighting ongoing infrastructure challenges.
Of these, 60 have been allocated for replacement through the Education Infrastructure Grant, whilst the Department of Basic Education has allocated funding for 34 additional facilities.
Meanwhile, the department has identified 18 schools with fewer than 50 learners as candidates for rationalisation, with a further 112 schools housing fewer than 135 learners also being considered for the programme.
This would leave 203 schools requiring sanitation upgrades, with the Department of Basic Education having promised funding pending National Treasury confirmation.
Learning materials delivered
In more positive developments, the department reported successful completion of Learner Teacher Support Material (LTSM) and stationery deliveries to all schools by 7 November 2025. Top-up textbooks for Grades 8-12 were distributed by 5 December 2025.
Procurement of top-up textbooks for Grades 1-7 remains in progress, with the department assuring completion before the 2026 academic year begins in January.
Scholar transport
The departments of Education and Transport are reportedly collaborating to address scholar transport challenges, establishing a task team to review data preparation for 2026. The refined dataset includes 159,631 learners requiring transport assistance.
