Over 25 000 learners supported with safe activities during school holidays

The Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport coordinated various programmes over the June/July school holidays to ensure youth could go to safe spaces to develop their skills and talents. The department is committed to ensuring that young people are presented with opportunities to grow themselves in productive ways during school holidays.

The YearBeyond programme has provided school holiday programmes reaching over 25 000 learners in communities across the Western Cape. This has included:

• Programmes in almost 100 schools for grades 3 and 4 learners focused on building a love of playing, learning, reading, drawing and recycling with the recycled clothing fashion show being a huge highlight, 
• Programmes at 18 community hubs providing children in the areas with a safe space, fun activities and engagement with caring adults. These programmes drew children from over 50 schools and included fun games, toy making and more,
• Programmes at libraries building a love of reading and stimulating children’s imaginations with stories and puppets, movies and more.

School holiday programmes were presented at 52 of our regional libraries across the province. These programmes included activities aimed at cultivating a love of reading, storytelling, teaching research and IT skills and talks aimed at the youth. 

The MOD Programme (Rural and Metro Districts) offered a full holiday programme for the duration of the June 2022 school holiday period (Monday, 27 June until Monday, 18 July 2022). The programme is aimed at the holistic development of learners and offers opportunities for mass participation in sporting and cultural activities, as well as structured learning activities. The activities presented included modified football, netball, cricket, tag rugby, volleyball, tennis, table tennis, basketball, futsal, chess, indigenous games, board games, handball, softball, baseball, hockey, music, drama, dancing, singing, poetry and juggling. Attendance numbers were high across all the regions.

The department hosted the first phase of the DCAS drama festival by presenting a script development workshop in the Garden Route area, where youth from the area, as well as the Cape Winelands, were trained in the fundamentals of script writing for theatre. Facilitators from the Baxter Theatre’s Zabalaza Festival provided the necessary training for these youth. Award-winning actor Abduraghman Adams gave of his time to share his knowledge and experience with these aspiring scriptwriters. These young people will now go on to prepare for the adjudication showcase in September this year.

Minister Anroux Marais said: “Our youth need to experience a feeling of belonging and safety and that is what we aim to achieve in these periods where they have less daily structure due to school holidays. We want all youth to be able to safely participate in sport, learn new skills and grow their potential.”

The department will continue to focus on programmes such as these so that we can safely offer our youth the support to reach their future dreams.