Attention editors: Please find English soundbite of MPP Deidré Baartman attached.
Please find images of Friday’s oversight visit here, here and here.
With the deadline for 2024 learner placement applications now passed, the DA in the Western Cape is pleased to note the smooth and efficient handling of applications in the vast majority of cases.
In the space of a month, the Western Cape Education Department was able to process applications for 156 150 learners. As a result of parents submitting multiple applications for their children, the Department received 503 763 applications before the deadline closed on 14 April. This would not have been possible without the diligent efforts of thousands of parents and legal guardians to make the deadline. The DA sincerely thanks them for their commitment to the future of their children.
While the vast majority of applicants submitted their applications unassisted through the Department’s online portal, the WCED also maintained a number of physical locations over the span of the application month. On Friday, hours before the deadline, members of the Western Cape Standing Committee on Education visited two of the WCED’s 114 pop-up sites in Manenberg, at which more than 2 000 applicants had been processed by the time they arrived. Friendly staff were on hand to answer questions and provide assistance with applications, while generators ensured that applications continued to be processed even during loadshedding.
While the deadline for applications has passed, the Department will still work to process any late applications by parents who have missed the deadline. While these applications will be considered late and can only be considered after the processing of those received during the application month, the WCED will still work towards placing every learner. Parents who have not yet applied should ensure that they submit their applications by 25 May at all costs.
DA Western Cape Spokesperson on Education Deidré Baartman says: “The DA in the Western Cape is profoundly grateful to both the Western Cape Education Department and the many thousands of Western Cape parents who have worked together to ensure that so many applications have been processed by the deadline. This will pay dividends next year when it reduces the issue of learner placements, furthering our and the WCED’s shared vision of a quality education for every child in the Western Cape.”
Late applications for 2024 learner placements can still be made here.