WCED says they are ready for the 2023 school year

The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) says they are ready to welcome back teachers, school-based staff and learners for the 2023 academic year, next week.

Teachers and school-based staff in coastal areas return to school on Monday, where they will finalise timetabling schedules, class lists and curriculum plans for the weeks ahead.

Learners will return on Wednesday, 18 January 2023.

‘’We look forward to their return and welcome all new learners entering the system. The WCED has prepared well for the start of the new school year with the aim to ensure that teaching and learning begins from day one.

‘’For example, schools were provided with the opportunity to order top-up textbooks for the 2023 school year as early as May 2022. The orders were fully delivered to schools by 28 October 2022. This amounted to R62.6 million rand,’’ said Bronagh Hammond, WCED spokesperson.

Hammond says the province will continue to recover learning losses of the COVID-19 pandemic.

‘’Looking back, the 2022 school year was one where schools returned to some sense of normalcy, with the school year starting on rotation and certain Covid-19 restrictions still in place. These restrictions gradually lifted, with the last restriction of masks being lifted at the end of the second term.  The focus last year was to “Get Back on Track” with, amongst other initiatives, additional hours being invested into Reading and Mathematics at school each week, to reverse learning losses in Grades 1 to 3,’’ she said.

 ‘’This year we start the school year afresh with a sense of optimism and hope and with renewed energy. Our focus will continue to be on recovering the learning losses due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the improvement of quality education for every learner, in every classroom, in every school in the Province. We acknowledge that the recovery period will take some time, but we are certainly working hard to ensure gains in each grade,’’ she added.

 

Done By: Mitchum George