Our Mission

The Western Cape Education Department’s (WCED) Education Museum’s mission is to foster environmental and heritage consciousness, and related responsibility, among learners and teachers.

Because we fall under the WCED, all our educational programmes are in line with the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS). We identify strongly with the Policy Documents for Social Sciences (History) and History that express the need for learners to be able to place events, people and places within a chronological framework by doing historical enquiry, by gaining historical knowledge and understanding, and by being able to interpret historical sources. We encourage teachers to arrange school visits to their local museums to see this in action. In addition, the Gr 4 Social Sciences History module on Local History, with its project of making a museum display, can be well served by the Museum’s collection.

We collect, preserve, display and make available for research and teaching purposes artefacts, books, documents and information for the enrichment of the school community in particular, but also for the benefit of the general public. Our focus is on items that reflect the history of education in the Western Cape and its hinterland. The collection will be maintained and selectively expanded in order to secure a suitable balance. We also engage, where possible, in research that benefits schools and the Western Cape Education Department.

This is achieved through:

• encouraging people to explore our collection for inspiration, learning and enjoyment;
• researching, sharing and interpreting information to reflect diverse viewpoints;
• researching the history of education in the Western Cape, as well as the histories of individual schools;
• constantly striving to make our collection representative of the educational experiences of all school communities in the Western Cape;
• acquiring items honestly and responsibly;
• safeguarding and managing our collection with integrity;
• mounting displays for special events at the Museum, at schools and other venues;
• organising an annual, interactive, educational programme that coincides with International Museum Day;
• lending of appropriate artefacts to schools;
• assisting schools wishing to start their own museums or archives;
• providing museum education programmes that supplement and enrich the CAPSCS;
• networking extensively with similar museums internationally;
• networking with other South African museums;
• submitting all of the Museum’s programmes to participants and role-players for comment and evaluation;
• aiming to improve our services constantly.

The Museum is a member of the South African Museums Association (SAMA) and subscribes to its constitution and guiding principles. We are committed to internationally accepted documentation standards and our collecting, displays, conservation and education will be guided by international museum practice and the professional code of ethics set out by the International Council of Museums (ICOM).