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In an unprecedented boost for education infrastructure, the Western Cape Education Department delivered eight new schools and more than 600 new classrooms in the last financial year. A direct response to the growing number of learners seeking education in the Western Cape, these massive construction projects represent a firm commitment to the WCED’s mission of quality education for every learner in the Western Cape.
These figures were revealed in the WCED’s 2022/2023 annual report, which was tabled in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament today. The report reveals that the Department has massively overachieved several of its own performance targets related to infrastructure. In the reporting period, the Department completed eight new schools, despite having only targeted two. The additional schools will serve learners in some of the Western Cape’s most underprivileged areas, ensuring that all children – regardless of circumstance – are given the opportunity to receive a quality education.
The Department also worked to provide additional facilities at existing schools. Having planned on constructing 69 new classrooms during the reporting period, the Department responded to increased demand on the schooling system and instead built 602 new classrooms across the province. In addition to this, 23 schools in high-priority areas were provided with high-security perimeter fencing – a simple but massively effective measure of improving learner safety at our schools.
The push to expand school infrastructure does not end there. The report also revealed that a further six new schools are currently under construction, a promising indicator that this trend of infrastructure improvement will continue into the future.
DA Western Cape Spokesperson on Education Deidré Baartman says: “While there is much to celebrate in this year’s annual report, the WCED’s push for more and better schools and classrooms for our learners is truly inspiring. Every classroom and school built by the Department represents a life-changing circumstance for thousands of learners who will gain the opportunity to receive a quality education. As our country wrestles with unemployment and inequality, education remains one of the most vital methods with which to overcome poverty and give our residents hope. I commend the WCED on their fantastic work this year, and look forward to seeing this push for infrastructure continue for years to come.”