Cape Town - The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) said Portland Primary School in Mitchells Plain would receive a massive infrastructural upgrade budgeted at R25 million.
Temporary mobile classrooms had been fitted at the school this year due to safety concerns related to the current infrastructure.
Education MEC David Maynier said: “Our unprecedented school infrastructure delivery programme is focused on delivering new places to accommodate learners for the 2023 school year. However, while we work to create new places for learners, our maintenance and upgrade work at existing schools continues.”
Complaints about Portland Primary reportedly surfaced 12 years ago in connection with the dilapidated building and ablution blocks.
“The mobile classrooms will remain in place so that teaching and learning can continue without interruption,” said Maynier, who announced that all
Western Cape schools were now full.
“As of December 20, 2022, we have placed 111 616, or 99%, of the Grade 1 and Grade 8 learners for the 2023 school year, and are in the process of placing 680, or 1%, of the Grade 1 and Grade 8 learners for the 2023 school year. We have placed 50 160 more Grade 1 and 8 learners than this time last year,” Maynier said.
The department said it completed 347 classrooms as part of its school build project to deliver 842 new classrooms with at least 26 000 places for the 2023 academic year.