The North West Department of Education has launched Winter Camps across the province as part of its ongoing efforts to improve Grade 12 learner performance in the 2026 National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations.
A total of 131 Winter Camps are being hosted during the winter school holidays, comprising of 117 residential camps and 14 walk-in camps. These camps are expected to benefit approximately 35,943 Grade 12 learners from across the province.
In 117 Residential Camps, candidates reside full-time at the camp to guarantee high discipline, complete focus, and continuous tutoring access. Learners have been given rules of the camp that they should obey and parents have also signed the commitment thereof. The Department has created a structured day-intervention points for learners where non-residential access is logistically more practical or preferred.
The primary objective for the winter camps is to help struggling candidates break through key mental roadblocks to comfortably secure good/passing grades at the end of the year. General revision is replaced by highly intensive deep dives into high-weight, complex topics inside core gateway subjects, for example; Mathematics, Physical Sciences, Life Sciences, and Accounting.
The MEC for Education, Viola Motsumi emphasized that the winter camps it’s a strategy aimed at providing support and revision to the Learners.
“The Winter Camps provide learners with intensive academic support, revision sessions, and examination preparation in key subjects to strengthen their readiness for the final matric examinations. They provide a general revision and these interventions operate as highly coordinated, syllabus-focused and targeted academic exercises designed to lift our provincial matric results to greater heights.
“The Department has prioritised safety in all the camps. A Provincial Rapid Response Team composed of officials from different units has been established to monitor issues of safety above the security personnel appointed in all the camps. We are pleading with the general community to support learners who are in the camps by giving them a peaceful moment”, added MEC Motsumi.
The Winter Camp programme commenced on 26 June 2026 during the winter vacation and will conclude on 19 July 2026.
For more information, please contact:
Vuyo Mantshule | Departmental Spokesperson | 073 217 7335
Dr Elias Malindi | Director: Communication Services | 072 892 8399
