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The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) has recently stated that the current growth rate of students taking at least one technical agricultural subject is 3.26%, which exceeds the annual target of 2% per year.

This is further proof of the essential role the industry plays in our province and economy, as well as the need to continue supporting education in this regard. As such, I will be submitting parliamentary questions to Minister David Maynier to enquire about the Department’s plans to expand the learning opportunities for this subject.

Agriculture, as well as computational skills and the arts, forms part of the WCED’s Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics, Agriculture and Coding (STEAMAC) strategy which aims to directly prepare learners for careers in these respective fields. Last year, the Department spent R2.6 million in incorporating the disciplines of IT, Art subjects, Consumer Studies, Agriculture Technology and Agriculture Management Practices into STEAMAC.

However, these developments further build on the progress that has been made over the years. Since 2015, the WCED has added 25 more schools which offer agricultural subjects. For this year, there are 32 foundation phase schools that are participating in a coding and robotic pilot project and will involve the training of 96 teachers. This is in addition to the at least 24 robotics clubs being formed in the Robotic e-Education and Coding Hubs project.

MPP Deidré Baartman says: “Infrastructure allocations were initially made in 2020 to allow 7 schools to accommodate Agricultural Technology, which was further expanded by 11 schools during the last financial year. It is clear that agriculture and coding will become more crucial to the education packages our province has to offer.

The WCED already liaises with the Department of Economic Development and Tourism, the Department of Agriculture, industry partner and unions for these subjects. As the DA, welcome this all-of-society approach and we look forward to further cooperation in this regard.”

Issued by DA Western Cape Spokesperson on Education Deidré Baartman