Western Cape Education Department to Expand Teacher Software Choices to Cut Costs
19 October 2026
The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) is evaluating expanding open-source software such as LibreOffice for teachers to reduce rising license costs, confirming to Parliament that a pilot program will see this come to approximately 12,000 teachers in the near future.
The move comes as the department faces mounting cost pressures under its existing three-year Microsoft schools agreement, which was described as unsustainable. The agreement provided Microsoft software but the global leader in office software carries pricing which the WCED was unable to keep paying. Lower license costs are the major appeal of moving to open-source.
Microsoft has been the Western Cape's school software standard for a decade. In 2010, the WCED signed a three-year Microsoft schools agreement, and before that, Microsoft had been available free to schools. By 2014, all schools in the Western Cape were using Microsoft products, with the head office covering the bulk of the licensing costs, but then came the unsustainability reports.
Educators in the Western Cape face a major constraint to moving away however: almost all respondents to a 2014 study identified Microsoft as a daily necessity. They were wary of losing the Microsoft applications in contrast to the easier transition of others to open office, for example. Although they said reduced cost was the most prominent positive factor, the perceived lack of support, resources, time, or negative user attitudes about the unfamiliar open source system were strong disincentives.
"This is by no means an overnight transition," says a source close to the department's planning processes. "We have to get the details right and make sure everyone knows how to use the software and has time to adapt."
The Western Cape has embarked on a major shift toward digital learning in recent years, investing in infrastructure without changing the Microsoft basis. In 2010, the Teacher Laptop Initiative provided 3,500 teachers with subsidized laptops running Microsoft Office. In 2021, the WCED upgraded over 30,000 teachers to its educational Microsoft accounts for the same functions. Any move to change that relies on evidence that lowering costs linked to software licensing reaches and benefits teachers in an appreciable way.
The WCED has invested in digital infrastructure but not yet in open source. A recent ICT Adoption Strategy update includes a self-paced online learning course for teachers and school leaders on collaborative digital practices. Teachers will need to embrace these new tools in the same way as they embraced Microsoft's decades ago.
As it stands, the planned rollout of LibreOffice to 12,000 Western Cape educators is contingent on the success of a pilot program in December 2022 to finalize procurement and training details. In terms of exact scope and next steps, these details are still to be ironed out.
Still, the move signals a shift toward open source in the Western Cape's classrooms and the first significant tailwind to adoption since the relationship with Microsoft began in earnest over a decade ago. Critics of that bond caution that the transition to LibreOffice will be difficult and that there is no guarantee it will save money.
In response, the WCED points to the success of the Microsoft agreement in the 2010s, more than a decade ago. "We were able to bring Microsoft to all Western Cape schools," says the source. "That wouldn't have been possible 10 years later. So the cost could be revenue neutral, but the transition is very possible."
