The Western Cape Education Department will implement several new initiatives from the start of the 2026 school year aimed at strengthening foundational literacy and numeracy skills among young learners.
Provincial Education Minister David Maynier announced that building strong foundational skills in literacy and numeracy through investment in the Foundation Phase remained a key priority for the province.
“Working together, we can and will improve early learning outcomes in the Western Cape,” Maynier said.
The department will continue implementing additional time allocations for mathematics and reading, which were first introduced in the third term of 2022. This measure provides an extra two hours per week for reading and one additional hour per week for mathematics, drawn from within the existing school day.
Following positive feedback from schools, the national Department of Basic Education recommended the implementation of the additional time in all provinces as an interim measure in 2023 and 2024. The Western Cape extended this until the end of 2025 and will continue it into 2026.
New assessment tools
From the beginning of the 2026 academic year, baseline assessments of literacy and numeracy skills will be introduced for all Foundation Phase learners. These informal, integrated assessments will be implemented by teachers using standardised tools, with detailed guidance provided for each grade and language.
“The data will be recorded to assist teachers, schools and the province to identify gaps in learning early, and to tailor our interventions to support learners,” the minister explained.
Reading fluency benchmarks will also be implemented across the Foundation Phase from the start of 2026. According to the department, benchmarking per term and per grade serves as clear, measurable goals that guide teaching, learning and assessment throughout the school year. Regular assessment using these benchmarks will enable teachers to plan lessons more effectively and target specific skills where learners struggle, allowing for differentiated instruction and timely interventions.
Numeracy intervention programme
The department has launched the pilot phase of a structured numeracy intervention for Foundation Phase teachers and learners, building on the success of early-grade reading interventions. Developed in partnership with Funda Wande through its Bala Wande programme, the initiative provides teacher training, teacher guides, learner books and mathematics resource kits. These kits include flashcards, posters and physical objects to demonstrate mathematical concepts.
In October all Grade 1 teachers at 70 schools across the province received training as part of the pilot programme. A full roll-out with training for remaining Grade 1 teachers in the province will follow in 2026, with plans to cover the full Foundation Phase over the next three years.
Maynier thanked department officials, school management teams and foundation-phase teachers for their support in prioritising early-grade literacy and numeracy.
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