The Democratic Alliance in the Western Cape commends the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) for achieving 100% of its non-financial targets during the First Quarter of the 2021/22 Financial Year. The Provincial Government has showcased year-on-year improvement across the board, with the WCED finishing the First Quarter at the top of the class across all Western Cape Government departments. A well-functioning Department is key to the delivery of quality services for learners.
Despite having to navigate turbulent changes in lockdown regulations stipulated by National Government, plus the added assignment of successfully rolling out vaccines amongst teachers, the WCED achieved all of its set targets. Going beyond pre-determined targets, the Department continued to roll-out online learning services to support teachers and learners in the ongoing management of the pandemic. These services have been widely used by learners in all other provinces; in fact, the most recent statistics show that Gauteng users comprised 20% of those making use of these online services.
The Western Cape remains an attractive destination for South Africans, and so just as parents often relocate to this province for better opportunities, the demand subsequently increases for learning at our schools. Thus the performance review at the end of this First Quarter again identified the increasing trend in learner growth as a risk to the availability of teachers and infrastructure under a tight fiscal environment. This reminds us that National Government must urgently amend the formula for determining the Provincial Equitable Share so that it takes all factors into consideration and funds follow learners to the provinces in which they reside.
Meanwhile, it has recently been revealed that six of the other provincial education departments in South Africa have been requested to submit clear plans with deliverables to repair basic sanitation infrastructure that pose risks to staff and learners. In contrast, the WCED in this performance report has once again indicated that it is capable of providing exceptional services that exceed the basic provisions of others by far. Though the demand on our education system is high, targets are met and we work hard to provide learners with conducive learning environments and dignified facilities so that we don’t see learners having to use pit latrines or learn in classrooms without roofs which is far too often the case in other provinces.
As we approach the Annual Report season, we look forward to reviewing the Department’s overall performance for the first 12 months of the pandemic and to perform oversight on the measures needed to continuously improve our systems in providing quality education in the Western Cape.