Schools in the Western Cape are currently all full. As of Monday 11 December 99,43% of learners in the Western Cape whose applications were received for Grade 1 and 8 have been placed in schools.
For many parents, securing a place for their children in schools has become a worrisome ordeal. In the West Coast parents who have children in various grades have shared their concerns for not only the placement of their children in the 2024 school year, but 2025 as well.
In a statement released by David Maynier, Western Cape Minister of Education, he said the department understands that this is a stressful and anxious period for these parents. “As a department, we are asking parents to work with us as we try to accommodate their children as soon as possible. We are exploring all available options to find a place for these learners for the start of the school year.”
One parent from Vredenburg said she had been struggling from January 2023 with placement for her child at Vredenburg High School. Being declined at first the parent had no choice but to enrol her child in an online school. Going back and forth with the department and the school, the parent said she has faced many challenges and would prefer her child to be in a classroom where he can have physical contact with teachers which will make learning easier.
Another parent whose child is completing her last year in primary school said she hopes to get place at Vredenburg High School for 2025, as she cannot afford other schools. “At the moment I pay just a little under R2 000 per month in school fees which includes aftercare. If my child has to go to a school outside of Vredenburg, I will not be able to afford it.” The parent said this would mean she would have to get an extra job and do more to cover these fees.
Despite a R716,4 million blow to the budget, the department said they are fighting hard to expand the number of places available at schools in the Western Cape.
“We will still build 10 new schools to accommodate the learners applying for the 2024 school year, as well as additional classrooms in areas of high demand for placement. In addition, 3 schools are being replaced currently.”
The department urged parents to apply during 13 March and 14 April of 2023. “Despite this, we know that many thousands of learners will arrive in the first term 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.”
Maynier said they 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.”
