Education
With regard to the capacity of schools in Mitchells Plain and with regard to complaints received from parents whose children’s applications to high schools have been declined and whose appeals to the WCED have been unsuccessful:
(1) (a) Why are Mitchells Plain learners being denied access to Grade 8 at schools in Mitchells Plain and, in particular, at the (i) Portland High School, (ii) Spine Road High School, (iii) Rocklands High School, (iv) High Cedar High School, (v) Lentegeur High School, (vi) Summerdale High School and (vii) Aloe High School and (b) where does his Department propose that these learners complete their secondary schooling;
(2) (a) what are the details of the shortfall of capacity for secondary school learners in the Mitchells Plain area, (b) how much of the shortfall is related to school infrastructure, (c) how much of the shortfall is related to teacher shortages and (d) how many additional teacher posts will be lost in 2025 in Mitchells Plain;
(3) (a) how does his Department plan to address the inability of learners from Mitchells Plain to access placement at a secondary school in Mitchells Plain and (b) what are the details of the plans and approved budgets that his Department have in place to build additional schools or expand existing schools in Mitchells Plain?
24. My department has informed me of the following:
(1) (a) The process for placement is still underway. Schools are still contacting parents on their waiting lists and making offers for placements.
There will be instances whereby learners are not accepted to a particular school. This could be for a variety of reasons. They may have not met the admission criteria of a certain school or the school could have received more applications than what they can accommodate.
Some schools in Mitchells Plain are schools of choice for many parents and receive large numbers of applications, far exceeding the numbers they can admit to their school. These learners could seek placement at other schools.
(b) One must note that learners apply to more than one school. Therefore, an unsuccessful application at one school does not necessarily mean that all the unsuccessful applications are unplaced. They may have successful applications at other schools.
It does, however, show the demand for placement at particular schools. The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) will, during the course of the 4th school term, make every effort to ensure that learners who require placement are placed.
(2) (a) The process for placement is still underway. The shortfall needs to be determined as late applications are received, and placements made, daily.
(b) This is still to determined as the placement process is still underway.
(c) This is still to be determined as the post provisioning and placement process is still underway.
(d) The reduction in number of posts is available by district – the Metro South Education District will have a reduction of 444 posts in total.
(3) The WCED has prioritised the development of new schools and classrooms in the Mitchells Plain area.
42 of the new classrooms for the 2024 school year are in Mitchell’s Plain, including additional classrooms at high-demand schools like Spine Road High School.
We are currently finalising infrastructure investments for the 2025 school year, which takes into account the need for additional capacity in Mitchell’s Plain.
