Late applications can add to ‘education crisis’ in schools

There are concerns that late applications will once again throw the Western Cape education system into the deep end, with overcrowded classrooms and overstretched teachers becoming the norm. Toward the end of the 2024 school year, the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) announced that the province’s schools were at capacity, having placed 97% of learners applying for Grade 1 and 8 for the 2025 school year.