Today, Tuesday, 2 June 2020, the Western Cape Education Department presented its quarterly reports for quarters 2-4 for the 2019/20 financial year during a virtual Standing Committee on Education at Provincial Parliament. The Western Cape is the only province which managed to reopen schools in South Africa in line with the gazetted regulations on 1 June 2020, No 43381.
MPP Lorraine Botha said: “The Education Committee will continue to monitor the readiness of public schools and availability of PPE in the province to promote the continuation of quality education in the Western Cape. Both safety and education remain fundamental to future livelihoods of learners”.
Although quarterly reports are presented retrospectively, amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, the rate of learner and teacher absenteeism remains a cause for concern.
The performance target rate for learner and teacher absenteeism rates are 6.5% and 3% respectively. Unfortunately, on average, the current learner and teacher absenteeism rates stands at 9.2% and 3.3% respectively.
MPP Lorraine added: “Although the department attributed the increase in absenteeism to tighter monitoring systems for proper evaluation and improvement, numbers remain a point of concern as we face the Covid-19 pandemic, where a total of one term of contact time has already been lost.
During the quarters 2 and 3, the department highlighted community unrest, which includes gang-related violence and service delivery protests, as challenges in meeting performance targets. It emphasises that educational performance is largely affected by societal crises, such as the current Covid-19 pandemic.”
As much as the primary objective is to ensure the safety and health of every learner, it is of paramount importance that schools reopen without further delay by the National Department of Basic Education.
The DA in the Western Cape remains committed to provide quality education, for every learner in every classroom during the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond.
