Education
With regard to the Western Cape Government’s Social Infrastructure Accessibility Study (June 2017) for the Greater Saldanha Regional Spatial Implementation Framework that identified that there was, at that time, an undersupply of facilities, in particular “3 x secondary schools” for St Helena Bay:
(1) Whether his Department addressed the undersupply of secondary school facilities in St Helena Bay; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
(2) (a) what plans and budgets are in place for the development of secondary schools in St Helena Bay, (b) when will a new secondary school be built in St Helena Bay, (c) what has been the delay in addressing the undersupply of secondary schools identified seven years ago in the aforementioned study and (d)(i) how many secondary school learners are being transported to schools in Vredenburg and (ii) what is the annual cost of that learner transport;
(3) the aforementioned study identified an undersupply of “five secondary schools” in Vredenburg, (a) how many secondary schools have been built in Vredenburg since that undersupply was identified in that study and (b) what are the details of those schools;
(4) seeing that the Department has developed fewer than five secondary schools in Vredenburg and none in St Helena Bay, how has his Department planned for secondary school learners from St Helena Bay to have access to basic education;
(5) how many learners (a) in Vredenburg and St Helena Bay can be accommodated in secondary schools in Vredenburg and (b)(i) will not gain access to a secondary school in Vredenburg in 2025 and (ii) what is his Department’s plan for their education?
My department has informed me of the following:
- Learners from St Helena Bay are being transported to schools in Vredenburg.
- (a) A property was identified for the potential future development of a high school in St. Helena Bay. The site is in process of being acquired by the Western Cape Government. This does not, however, guarantee the development of a school immediately. Available budget, the relevant municipal services and planning permissions must also be acquired. This must all align before the development of a school can proceed. At this stage, the development of a new high school in St. Helena Bay is not budgeted for as a new school project within our Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), as there are greater demands in other hotspot areas.
(b) See above.
(c) See above.
(d) 732 learners are being transported to schools in Vredenburg. The annual cost to transport the learners amounts to R13 830 408.00.
- The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) developed one high school in Vredenburg, namely the new Vredenburg High School.
- Learners have been accommodated in schools in Vredenburg and transported if required.
- (a) 5 381 Grade 8-12 learners can be enrolled in secondary schools in Vredenburg.
(b) Learners on the West Coast Education District’s placements in progress list will be accommodated in a school in 2025.
