2021/2022 REVENUE
A: OVERVIEW OF STELLENBOSCH MUNICIPALITY Background
3.6 Education
Education and training improves access to employment opportunities and helps to sustain and accelerate overall development. Quality Education is the 4th Sustainable Development Goal, whilst the National Development Plan (NDP) emphasises the link between education and employment as well as the significant contribution it makes to the development of the capabilities and wellbeing of the population.
Early childhood development (ECD) is one of the priority areas of the South African government and remains a critical policy issue that the Department of Education aims to address. Early years in life are critical for acquisition of perception motor skills required for reading, writing and numeracy in later years.
Early childhood development (ECD) is one of the priority areas of the South African government and remains a critical policy issue that the Department of Education aims to address. Early years in life are critical for acquisition of perception motor skills required for reading, writing and numeracy in later years.
MEDIUM TERM REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE FRAMEWORK FOR THE FINANCIAL PERIOD 2021– 2024
Table 3: Early Childhood Development – attendance levels
Early Childhood Development (ECD)
Ages Stellenbosch Municipality
1 Attending 26.4%
Not Attending 73.6%
2 Attending 61.9%
Not Attending 38.1%
3 Attending 72.9%
Not Attending 27.1%
4 Attending 71.9%
Not Attending 28.1%
5 Attending 50.6%
Not Attending 49.4%
Source: Western Cape, Socio-Economic Profile 2018
Attendance of children between 1 and 2 years old at educational facilities fluctuates and is largely attributed to working parents in need of child care. Attendance between 3 and 5 years old shows a promising increase of attendance at early childhood facilities, with attendance of 73% for age group 3 and 72% for age group 4. The results for age group 5 is 51% and comparable to other local municipalities. A number of children within this age group still remain home with a parent or guardian.
3.6.1 Learner enrolment, the learner-teacher ratio and learner retention rate
Learner enrolment in Stellenbosch increased from 27 087 enrolments in 2018 to 27 491 in 2019, an increase of 1.5 per cent. The learner-teacher ratio also reflected an increase from 28.5 in 2018 to 28.9 in 2019. The learner retention rate improved from 72.5 per cent in 2018 to 75.5 per cent in 2019. This could be attributed to a number of factors including improvement in the socio-economic context.
MEDIUM TERM REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE FRAMEWORK FOR THE FINANCIAL PERIOD 2021– 2024
Figure 4: Learner enrolment
Source: Western Cape, Socio-Economic Profile 2020
It is commonly assumed that children receive less personalised attention in larger class environments and that high learner-teacher ratios are detrimental to improved educational outcomes. Factors influencing the learner-teacher ratio is the ability of schools to employ more educators when needed and the ability to collect fees.
The learner retention rate refers to the number of students that start Grade 12 as a percentage of the number of students that enrolled in Grade 10 two year prior. The inverse of the learner-retention rate is commonly referred to as the drop-out rate. Learner-retention rates are influenced by multiple social, economic and psychological factors.
Figure 5: Learner-Teacher Ratio
Source: Western Cape, Socio-Economic Profile 2020
Cape Winelands Breede Valley Drakenstein Langeberg Stellenbosch Witzenberg
2017 143 895 32 860 48 208 18 213 26 544 18 070
2018 146 495 33 389 49 268 18 374 27087 18 377
2019 148 136 34062 49 606 18 474 27491 18 503
0 20 000 40 000 60 000 80 000 100 000 120 000 140 000 160 000
Cape Winelands Breede Valley Drakenstein Langeberg Stellenbosch Witzenberg
2017 26,60% 26,80% 27,20% 27,30% 25,00% 26,20%
2018 27,90% 28,40% 28,30% 28,50% 26,00% 28,30%
2019 28,00% 28,70% 28,20% 28,90% 26,60% 27,90%
23,00%
24,00%
25,00%
26,00%
27,00%
28,00%
29,00%
30,00%
MEDIUM TERM REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE FRAMEWORK FOR THE FINANCIAL PERIOD 2021– 2024
Stellenbosch has the lowest learner-teacher ratio in the District, which bodes well for educational outcomes.
The learner retention rate refers to the number of students that start Grade 12 as a percentage of the number of students that enrolled in Grade 10 two year prior. The inverse of the learner-retention rate is commonly referred to as the drop-out rate. Learner-retention rates are influenced by multiple social, economic and psychological factors.
Figure 6: Learner retention
Source: Western Cape, Socio-Economic Profile 2020
3.6.2 Number of schools and no-fee schools
In 2019, Stellenbosch had a total of 39 public ordinary schools, of which 25 are no-fee schools. In an effort to alleviate some of the funding challenges the Western Cape Department of Education (WCED) offered certain fee-paying schools to become no-fee schools. This means that almost two- thirds of the schools in Stellenbosch, 52 per cent, are registered with the Western Cape Department of Education as no-fee schools.
3.6.3 Schools with libraries and media centres
Schools with libraries and media centres has remained at 29 over the reference period, contributing to the overall quality of education in the area.
3.6.4 Schools with libraries
Schools with libraries and media centres has remained at 29 over the reference period, contributing to the overall quality of education in the area. There was no change in the number of schools with libraries in the Stellenbosch area from 2016 to 2020. The availability of library facilities within schools contribute towards narrowing the academic attainment gap by allowing students access to information which in turn directly links to improved education outcomes.
Cape Winelands Breede Valley Drakenstein Langeberg Stellenbosch Witzenberg
2017 69,20% 69,90% 71,20% 59,50% 74,40% 63,40%
2018 67,70% 64,70% 72,60% 56,30% 72,50% 62,50%
2019 69,40% 69,80% 72,40% 60,30% 75,50% 59,80%
0,00%
10,00%
20,00%
30,00%
40,00%
50,00%
60,00%
70,00%
80,00%
MEDIUM TERM REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE FRAMEWORK FOR THE FINANCIAL PERIOD 2021– 2024
3.6.5 Education Outcomes (Matric Pass Rates)
Education remains one of the key avenues through which the state is involved in the economy. In preparing individuals for future engagement in the labour market, policy choices and decisions in the sphere of education play a critical role in determining the extent to which future economic and poverty reduction plans can be realised. Stellenbosch’s matric outcomes has declined slightly from 85.2 per cent in 2018 to 85.0 per cent in 2019.
Source: Western Cape, Socio-Economic Profile 2020