Question NW779 to the Minister of Basic Education
04 May 2017 - NW779
Schmidt, Adv H to ask the Minister of Basic Education
(1)Has her department identified the role that domestic migration plays in the large increase in the number of learners who wish to register in the Western Cape school system; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details; (2) what impact does the high number of learners who move to the Western Cape have on the school system in the (a) Western Cape and (ii) provinces from which the learners migrate?
Reply:
1. The Department is aware of the role domestic migration plays in the large number of learners who wish to register not only in the Western Cape school system but in all big cities of all our provinces. The relevant details of the Western Cape are provided in the table below as follows:
Table 1: Number of learners to the Western Cape
FROM |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
TOTAL |
Eastern Cape |
20.990 |
22.286 |
21.283 |
20.200 |
14.291 |
99.050 |
Free State |
351 |
400 |
506 |
608 |
258 |
2.123 |
Gauteng |
1.609 |
1.499 |
1.704 |
1.698 |
780 |
7.290 |
Kwa-Zulu-Natal |
365 |
390 |
589 |
490 |
572 |
2.406 |
Limpopo |
139 |
136 |
225 |
173 |
75 |
748 |
Mpumalanga |
171 |
191 |
236 |
185 |
79 |
862 |
North-West |
155 |
165 |
187 |
229 |
102 |
838 |
Northern Cape |
795 |
788 |
834 |
744 |
421 |
3.582 |
Other Country |
2.033 |
2.100 |
1.812 |
2.053 |
1.397 |
9.395 |
Total |
26.608 |
27.955 |
27.376 |
26.380 |
17.975 |
126.294 |
The table below indicates the number of learners moving from province to province:
Table 2: Number of learners from one province to another, by province, in 2016
Province |
Previous Province |
|||||||||
Eastern Cape |
Free State |
Gauteng |
Kwazulu-Natal |
Limpopo |
Mpumalanga |
North West |
Northern Cape |
Western Cape |
Grand Total |
|
Eastern Cape |
|
1 068 |
6 259 |
3 678 |
159 |
406 |
701 |
445 |
10 310 |
23 026 |
Free State |
1 980 |
|
6 581 |
1 004 |
341 |
719 |
1 732 |
1 161 |
740 |
14 258 |
Gauteng |
6 964 |
3 102 |
|
6 368 |
10 151 |
23 872 |
21 481 |
589 |
3 560 |
76 087 |
Kwazulu-Natal |
4 715 |
614 |
7 291 |
|
248 |
1 993 |
3 267 |
126 |
923 |
19 177 |
Limpopo |
172 |
325 |
9 536 |
162 |
|
2 877 |
3 091 |
70 |
146 |
16 379 |
Mpumalanga |
679 |
470 |
6 249 |
2 350 |
11 205 |
|
3 314 |
113 |
237 |
24 617 |
North West |
1 599 |
1 344 |
9 370 |
362 |
1 793 |
784 |
|
1 261 |
192 |
16 705 |
Northern Cape |
462 |
741 |
1 161 |
86 |
157 |
173 |
2 425 |
|
1 547 |
6 752 |
Western Cape |
77 952 |
1 871 |
8 054 |
2 012 |
653 |
853 |
728 |
3 085 |
|
95 208 |
Grand Total |
94 523 |
9 535 |
54 501 |
16 022 |
24 707 |
31 677 |
36 739 |
6 850 |
17 655 |
292 209 |
Source: 2016 LURITS
2. (a) The impact that the high number of learners who move to any province including the Western Cape is that the majority of the learners arrive late in such provinces, often between January and March. They place a huge pressure on the receiving province to accommodate them and provide all the necessary resources and support. The financial impact and cost to the Provincial Education Department is huge as this is not factored into the norms and standards allocation.
(ii) The impact on provinces from which learners migrate is that provincial departments in rural provinces are forced to merge or close some of the schools and teachers deployed to where their services are required.