Department of Education Extranet

Education in the Northern Cape Province

The Northern Cape Province The Northern Cape is the largest and the most sparsely populated province in South Africa spanning 372 889 km² and covers about 31% of the country’s surface area, with a population of 1, 263 875 (2.3% of the national population). This is made up of 50.4% African, 40.3% Coloured, 7.1% White and 1.7% Indian or Asian. The language distribution 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 848 and 3 308 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 21 785 and 95 159 learners in each district.

The following summary can be noted from SNAP Survey data for the 2021academic year:

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

· From Grade 1 to Grade 12: 288 212, an increase of 1.2% over the previous year.

· From Grade R to Grade 12: 308 034, an increase of 0.9%

· From Pre Grade R to Grade 12: 308 855 and increase of 0.9%

There are increases in learner number from all the subsets or grouping of data. This includes:

· An overall increase of 2 684 of learners, representing 0.9%, from the subset that include Pre Grade R to Grade 12;

· In the category of Grade R to Grade 12, there is an increase of 2 834, representing 0.9% when compared to 2020 academic year;

· Grade 1 to Grade 12 has seen an increase of 3 333 learners, which represents 1.2% of increase in comparison to 2020 academic year