The Oudtshoorn School of Skills was established on 01 January 2012. Our primary focus is to equip learners with the necessary skills, knowledge and values to enter the technical/occupational field of work. Our current skills curriculum provides training in Welding, Bricklaying and Plastering, Maintenance, Hospitality Studies, Hairdressing, Woodworking & Timber. The primary objective of our school is to provide learners with opportunities to develop to their full potential and to eventually become independent citizens. An essential part of our program is to expose learners, from their third year, to real life employment by placing them in the workplace for at least one week per year. The school accommodates learners in an area stretching over the greater part of the Klein- as well as the Central Karoo Region. Approximately a third of our learners are accommodated in our hostel.

In 2004 the WCED decided to amalgamate all 3 special schools in Oudtshoorn. In 2012 the school was restructed and led to the establishment of the Oudtshoorn School of Skills in January 2012. The school provides opportunities to learners who would like to explore an alternative curriculum of which the primary focus is on skills. Learners are trained in the Adapted Caps Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (ACAPS)

When the need for these kinds of establishments no longer existed, the Klein Karoo Vaardigheidskool was established in 2001 on the same campus. The focus of the school changed to a curriculum of skills training. Boys and girls from all over the Klein Karoo, with learning difficulties came to this school. 

The school was a school of skills for girls from all over South Africa and Namibia. It all started in 1947 with the establishment of the Petra Meisieskool. The Petra Meisieskool was a school for girls, coming from difficult circumstances. For years and years girls from all over the Cape Province came to this school in Oudtshoorn by bus or train. They lived in hostels and got a good education.