Parliament, Friday, 11 October 2024 – The Portfolio Committee on Basic Education today concluded its week-long oversight programme at Brackenfell High School in the Western Cape where many of its questions were unanswered and based on that it requested an urgent meeting with the Western Cape Education Department (WCED).
The Chairperson of the committee, Ms Joy Maimela, said the week-long oversight visit which started in Springbok was its first oversight visit since it was established a few months ago. She said the visit offered the committee with an opportunity to see an evidence of what was theoretically presented in actions on the ground.
“We visited schools in the townships, farming areas and suburbs. The glaring disparities in education and infrastructure in the province are unbelievable. It is even more concerning that we have been requesting information from the WCED on Wednesday and received nothing up to now.”
She said it was clear that the language policy in many of the school visited was a barrier to historically disadvantaged learners in certain communities. English and Afrikaans were languages that made certain schools inaccessible to children who came from African communities in the province.
The committee expressed its frustration to the school management at Brackenfell High School about its unfounded claim of diversity. It told the management that a few years ago, the school was in the spotlight when parents of white learners organised a matric ball for white learners only.
The principal of the school claimed that the school was for all South African children but when the committee got the demographics of the school, the school has about 90% white learners.
The committee was surprised to find out that it is in fact the schools that make the final determination of Grade-1 and Grade-8 learners although applications are made online on a WCED portal. The school goes into the system and decides which learners to accept.
The committee was appalled by the situation in which Worcester based Zwelethemba High School management system is in disarray. The school couldn’t get the support it needed from the WCED and it has insufficient learner support material such as books.
Disgruntled parents who attended the meeting of the committee and WCED officials told the committee that the WCED does not support the school. “It is October and learners across the grades do not have textbooks. You took the school over completely as a public school, but you want the School Governing Body to buy textbooks,” stressed Ms Maimela.
She said the visit to the school was unpleasant. “We expected to see evidence of good work but there is an opposite of that on the ground.” The committee called on the department to ensure that there is access to equal education for all the children in the province.
Ms Maimela said the committee is requesting a meeting with the WCED next week where it will receive the information it requested on Wednesday from the department and all the outstanding answers that were asked from the department.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON BASIC EDUCATION, MS JOY MAIMELA
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