ANC and DA in the Western Cape at loggerheads over education challenges

Loyiso Langeni
24 January 2014

The African National Congress in the Western Cape said it is concerned about the many problems that are still being experienced in the provincial education department. 

These include not enough space to accommodate learners at schools or learner transport not arriving to collect learners. 

ANC Provincial Spokesperson Cobus Grobler said it is clear that the province does not have enough schools for all the children in the province. 

Grobler said in the Southdrift this past week there were no busses, the learner transport of the province did not come to pick up the children. On Wednesday the matrics in that group about 200 learners had to write their first test of the year, and they could not do so.

This is unacceptable and the Western Cape Provincial Education Department together with MEC Donald Grant should produce what they promised us,” Grobler added.

In reply the Western Cape Education Department said over the past five years 70 schools have been built which is a big achievement. 

Ministerial Spokesperson Bronagh Casey said the during the ANC’s administration it only managed to built 36 schools in the five year period, now the department has already built 49 schools and there are four new schools and 17 replacement schools that are under construction. 

Casey said we are getting influx of more learners, every year.  Last year alone we received 17 000 learners from the Eastern Cape alone, who registered in the Western Cape for the first time at the beginning of 2013

“Every thousands of learners that we get in this province additionally it is one new school that they are taking up in terms of capacity.” Casey added

She concluded by saying that they have to look at their building projects and see whether there is demand of increase of learners they need to keep up with the capacity and building 70 schools in the last 5 years its quite an achievement if you compare it to what the ANC achieved in their 5 years in administration.

 

 

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