Learner Migration into the Western Cape

Media Statement by Donald Grant, Western Cape Minister of Education 

Introduction

Over the past few weeks the Western Cape Education Department has been working hard to assist parents in enrolling their children in schools.

The majority of learners requiring assistance applied late or have arrived in the Western Cape from other provinces.

Where these learners reside within the Western Cape, their parents had simply failed to take the necessary steps to enrol their child last year, despite numerous calls to do so. 

In some cases, the difficulty has arisen as a result of parents insisting on gaining access to one school of their choice and not accepting alternatives on offer. Issues of language medium and subject choice in the higher grades also complicate the situation.

However, the majority of learners that we have and are now assisting are learners from outside the province, mostly from the Eastern Cape.

Learner migration from other provinces is not a new phenomenon. It happens in every province throughout the school year, as parents move from province to province seeking new jobs or better education opportunities for their children.

The levels of migration, however, differ in each province.

Education officials and departments prepare for inward migration as best they can each year, but ultimately, the long- and short-term impact on the system can be significant.

This impact can affect budgets, the provisioning of resources, as well as, the planning and management of the education system.

This is especially so when migration numbers are high, and when the system itself is growing year on year.

Increases in Overall Enrolment in the Western Cape

In the last five years, the numbers of learners enrolled in schools in the Western Cape has grown significantly.

Learner enrolment from Grade 1 to Grade 12 (including LSEN schools) has grown by 44 126 learners since 2010.

*These figures are based on enrolments from 2010-2014

Learner Enrolment from other Provinces and Countries

While the system itself has been growing year on year, we have also seen a flow of new enrolments each year (2010-2014) from other provinces and countries.

Inward migration has seen 131 834 additional new enrolments within the system since 2010; 9 456 of these learners are from outside the province. The majority are from within South Africa.

*These figures are based on new enrolments from 2010-2014

Of the 122 378 learners that have arrived in our province since 2010, the overwhelming majority come from the Eastern Cape.

Overall, 80.2% (105 850) are from the Eastern Cape.

*These figures are based on new enrolments from 2010-2014

This year, the WCED has enrolled 19 857 learners from the Eastern Cape (Grade R-Grade12).

The majority of learners from the Eastern Cape are entering the Western Cape system in Grade R, Grade 1 and Grade 10 - therefore affecting enrolment in both primary and high schools.

Below is a table of new enrolments from the Eastern Cape in 2014 (as of 5 February 2014) in their respective grades.

Migration per province Grade R to Grade 12 (2010 – 2014)

*These figures are based on new enrolments from the Eastern Cape in 2014

The arrival of learners entering the system at the beginning of the FET band in schools, for instance in Grade 10, often poses specific challenges as our high schools and their educators have to accommodate learners that have not been prepared in the same school. In many cases this creates an expectation gap around subject choices. 

Late Enrolment from the Eastern Cape

At the start of every school year, learners arrive unexpectedly from the Eastern Cape seeking enrolment in Western Cape schools.

This not only puts pressure on our education officials to assist with the placement of these late learners, but also disrupts teaching and learning time and the flow of the curriculum in the classroom.

For example, just this week we have seen an increase in the numbers arriving from the Eastern Cape.

Between Thursday, 30 January 2014, to 5 February 2014, the WCED placed an additional 1 571 learners in schools from the Eastern Cape alone, over a period of four school days.

We continue to place learners every day.

Areas of Migration

The challenges we face with finalising the late enrolment of learners at the start of the school year is made even greater by the concentrated areas into which learners migrate.

This places a massive strain on the resources within these “hotspot” areas and the availability of space at these schools.

The majority of learners from the Eastern Cape tend to migrate to the City of Cape Town – with 79% of 2014’s new enrolments congregating in the four metro districts.

*These figures are based on new enrolments from the Eastern Cape in 2014

The areas in which we have seen high levels of new enrolments from the Eastern Cape are as follows:

• Khayelitsha
• Lwandle/Strand
• Langa
• Gugulethu
• Hout Bay
• Mfuleni
• Nyanga
• Crossroads
• Wallacedene
• Delft
• Mitchells Plain
• Masiphumelele
• Philippi

While some of these areas, such as Langa and Khayelitsha have the capacity to enrol additional learners, areas such as Delft, Mfuleni and Strand are taking strain.

Mitchells Plain is an area which, only three years ago, had numerous accommodation options available. Today, accommodation options are running low.

The WCED has therefore had to rethink its infrastructure strategy in the last few years to accommodate the influx of learners into these areas.

If we consider the fact that an average school accommodates 1 000 learners – the migration of 20 000 learners each year indicates that 20 additional schools would be needed to accommodate these learners. In the last five years, this would indicate that over 100 schools would be needed to accommodate the 105 850 learners from the Eastern Cape alone.

The WCED’s infrastructure plan has had to take into account the areas into which Eastern Cape learners are moving. If we look at the areas in which we described earlier, there is a direct correlation with the building of new schools in these areas over the last four years.

Seventeen schools have been built in these “hotspot” areas over the last four years.

Our infrastructure plan for the next three years has also had to consider these migration patterns when planning the building of new schools. 15 new schools are/or planned to be built in these areas to accommodate both learners from within the Western Cape and any additional learners from areas such as the Eastern Cape.

If we consider the fact that an average new brick and mortar school costs R30 million and a mobile school, R6.5 million – the 32 schools that have and will be built in these areas have cost the state approximately R795 million over a seven year period.

In addition to this, the WCED has provided additional mobiles at existing schools in these areas. On average a mobile classroom costs R240 000.

Per Learner Allocations

Every child that enters our province seeking school enrolment needs to be accommodated and provided the necessary resources.

On average, every learner in the Western Cape costs the public purse R12 000 each year. This includes their norms and standards allocations and educator salaries averaged on a per learner basis. 

The influx of 105 850 learners from the Eastern Cape over the last five years, has therefore cost the Western Cape Government R1.2 billion. 

Conclusion

The Western Cape Government is committed to providing all learners of this province access to quality education. This includes learners that have migrated here from other provinces.

We must, however, be cognisant of the fact that the large numbers of inward migration to this province does have financial and planning consequences.

It also impacts the provisioning of education resources and the overall management of the system.

I would like to thank our schools and district officials for doing their best to manage this situation, particularly in the areas that I have mentioned today. They feel the impact the most.

We will continue to try to assist our schools and districts in planning ahead for these increases in enrolment.

Our commitment is to provide the best quality education we can to all learners in Western Cape schools. The challenges of doing this, within budget frameworks where we accommodate significant additional learners, are obvious.