Education in the Northern Cape Province

 

The vast and arid Northern Cape Province is the largest province in South Africa geographically, taking up nearly a third of the country’s land area. The Northern Cape spans 372 889 km² and covers about 31% of the country’s surface area. It is bordered by Namibia and Botswana to the north, and also by the North West, Free State, Eastern ape and Western Cape provinces. The cold Atlantic Ocean forms the province’s western boundary.

 

The Northern Cape is sparsely populated with a population of 1, 993 780 (Community Survey: 2016). This is made up of 50.4% African, 40.3% Coloured, 7.1% White and 0.7 % Indian or Asian and other groups which comprise 1.6% of the Northern Cape Population (Census 2011).

 

The language distribution in the Province is Afrikaans 53.8%, Setswana 33.1%, IsiXhosa 5.3% and English 3.4%. The Province has four official languages namely Afrikaans, Setswana, IsiXhosa and English. The Province is also home to a number of Indigenous languages that are spoken by the Khoe - San people.

 

The San groups include the (IGWIA, 2011):

· ‡Khomani San- residing mainly in the Kalahari region

· Khwe- residing mainly in Platfontein, Kimberley

· !Xun- residing mainly in Platfontein, Kimberley

 

 

The Khoekhoe include the (IGWIA, 2011):

· Nama residing mainly in the Northern Cape Province

· Koranna mainly in Kimberley and Free State Province

· Griqua residing in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, Free State and Kwa-ZuluNatal provinces.

 

The Provincial Department of Education in the Northern Cape is divided into five districts:

1 .Frances Baard, 12,836 km2

2. John Taolo Gaetsewe, 27,322 km2

3. Namakwa, 126 836 km2

4. Pixley-ka-Seme, 103,411 km2 and

5. ZF Mgcawu 102,484 km2 .

 

 

These districts each service between 882 and 3 602 educators, with Namakwa having the least educators and Frances Baard having the most number of educators. In turn, these educators are responsible for the teaching and learning for between approximately 21 655 and 98 543 learners in each district.

 

Districts

No of Public schools

No of Educators

No of Learners

Frances Baard

125

3 353

94 699

John Taolo Gaetsewe

170

2 716

79 840

Namakwa

73

   852

21 235

Pixley-ka-Seme

88

1 591

45 903

ZF Mgcawu

98

2 017

58 584

total

554

10 529

300 261

 

The following summary can be noted from the 10th day School Survey for the 2023 academic year:

 

The total number of learners (all inclusive: Public and independent) is as follows:

· From Grade 1 to Grade 12: 287 585 (2022:289 969)

· From Grade R to Grade 12: 307 119 (2022:309 62)

· From Pre Grade R to Grade 12: 308 318 (2022:310 387)

 

There is a decrease of 0.8% in learner numbers from grade 1 to 12, decrease of 0.8% in learner numbers from Grade R to 12 and a decrease of 0.75 in leaner numbers from Pre grade R to Grade !2 compared to March 2022.

 

The total number of learners in public ordinary schools (Including SNE schools):

·         From Grade 1 to Grade 12: 281 353 (2022: 283 814), a decrease of 0.9% compared to March 2022

·         From Grade R to Grade 12: 300 261 (2022:302 868), a decrease of 0.9% compared to March 2022

·         From Pre Grade R to Grade 12: 303 236), a decrease of 0.7% compared to March 2022

 

There is a noticeable decrease in learner number to SNE schools. For instances while in March 2021 there was 1 396 learners recorded in SNE schools, the collected 10th day data suggests that there are only 1 241, representing a decrease of 11.1% for Grade R to 12.

 

Independed schools learners were 7 295  (2022: 7 151) in the 10th day snap survey.

 

The Northern Cape Province has a total number of 595 schools, which includes 543 public ordinary schools, 11 special schools and 41 independent schools with a total number of 308 318 (2022: 310 387) learners from Pre Grade R to Grade 12. The total number of schools varies for each District with John Taolo Gaetswewe  179 (2022: 180) with the majority number of schools followed by France Baard 140 (2022: 140), ZF Mgcawu 103 (2022:102) Pixley Ka Seme 94 (2022: 94) and Namakwa 79 (2022: 80) with the lowest school count.