News24.com | WATCH | 'School is cool': Cape Town pupils eager to be back in class

• Coastal schools have officially kicked off the 2023 academic year on Wednesday.
• Western Cape Premier Alan Winde and Education MEC David Maynier welcomed pupils back at Starling Primary School in Cape Town.
• Parent said load shedding and crime in the area was their major concern. 

It was an abundance of tears, laughter, and hugs as pupils eagerly ran through the entrance gate of Starling Primary School in Mountview, Cape Town, when they recognised familiar faces on Wednesday morning.

Western Cape Premier Alan Winde and Education MEC David Maynier were in attendance to officially kick off the year.

Despite several pupils still needing to be placed, the education departments in the Western Cape, Northern Cape, and Eastern Cape said they were ready to welcome them back. 

Maynier said he was "very happy" with the preparations leading up to schools opening even though there were thousands that still needed to be placed. 

"We've added [more than] 500 additional classrooms and 1 143 additional teachers for this year. There [are] still some Grade 1 and Grade 8 learners that have not received placements yet, but the department and schools will be working to ensure those learners, who do not have places, are placed at a school in the province," Maynier added.

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He encouraged pupils to give it their best this year, saying "school is cool" as pupils giggled among themselves. 

Parent Bernard Kiala said it was "pure" luck his daughter, Jessica, managed to get a place in Grade 1 and welcomed the fact there were no "hassles".

Kiala added:

Jessica said she was "super happy" to be at school and could not wait to start colouring in as teachers handed out pictures to the class.

"I want to be an eye specialist one day because I love to look into people's eyes," she added, with a big smile.   

For the parents of Grade 3 pupil Zakwaan Amardien, waking him up and getting him ready for "back-to-school vibes" was a breeze. 

"There were no tantrums this morning, and he was super excited to come back to school.

"I suppose when we left the house reality started to kick in that there is no more sleeping late in the morning for him and that now the back-to-school every day routine has kicked in," said mom Mariam. 

She added even though she was glad the start of school was officially under way, she was mindful of the many challenges such as load shedding and gang violence in the area pupils might face. 

"I don't think any parent is oblivious to the fact that load shedding has been a problem because if it's already this bad at home, how will it be for these students that need to learn using a computer or technology sources used in class?

"It's a major concern and it looks like this year load shedding might just be one of our biggest problems because I just don't see anything being done by the government," Mariam added.

Winde said he had held so many meetings over the last few months to prepare and understand the situation with Eskom and load shedding.

He added they were trying to speed up procurement at a municipal level to secure independent power production and save energy. 

"The problem with big energy is that it takes a long time, even 18 to 24 months, so we [have] got to find some sort of mitigation of the load shedding because diesel is expensive," Winde said.

Grade 7 pupil Zayaan Clarke said it was a relief to travel to school because there was no shooting during rush hour traffic.

Her mom, Layyan Clarke, said it was always a concern in the morning not knowing whether gangs would be fighting while children travelled to school.

"At the moment, I drive my child to school, but my heart bleeds for those kids who don't have the luxury of being driven to school.

"Some of the kids here in Hanover Park have no choice but to walk to school and sometimes this happens when the shooting is happening," she said.

"It's an exciting time for my daughter because it's the last year of primary school. This morning, she didn't want to stand up because she's not a very easy person to leave her bed."

Speaking on crime in gang-infested areas, Winde said all schools have a safe school programme.

"If a parent is feeling worried about the violence, they must contact the school which will then implement the safe school's team.

"The neighbourhood watch plays a big role to make sure communities are safe. Government is putting lots of money into safety, but we have got to work together as a community to make sure our kids are safe when going to school," he added.