Equal Education (EE) has launched their #NoSpaceForUs Campaign which entailed a report on how Gauteng schools are overcrowded. Research for the report was conducted between September 2019 and June 2020
EE findings include:
- Some classes had too many learners and this was found in nine schools that EE conducted their research on.
- 74% of classes of classes inspected had over 40 learners.
- Seven out of the nine schools had at least 15% more learners than the building was designed to hold.
- 66% of the classroom buildings measured were too small for the number of learners that they held.
- 82% of the classrooms buildings inspected had too little furniture for the number of learners inside them.
- 65% of the teachers interviewed were overworked.
However, the National Education Infrastructure Management System (NEIMS) and Education Management Information System (EMIS) has its own data on the very same schools. They made a counter-argument that none had classes with too many learners, the average teacher-learner ratio being 30:1, only 35% of teachers were overworked, and only five of the nine schools had a classroom shortage.
EE made recommendations to the Gauteng Education Department (GDE) after the report had been released to lessen current overcrowding and prevent future overcrowding are made. These included:
- The GDE must create a school infrastructure development plan that puts an end to current overcrowding and prevents future overcrowding, by preparing for growth in the number of learners;
- The GDE must spend its budget in a way that prioritises fixing overcrowding;
- The DBE must develop school capacity norms that limit the number of learners a school can enrol and that the GDE is forced to stick to; and
- The GDE must place teachers and support staff in schools where they are needed most.
[Media alert] Launch of Equal Education (EE) #NoSpaceForUS campaign & release of our research report on overcrowding in Gauteng’s schools
👉🏿:https://t.co/CLcTcGcWD4#FixOurSchools pic.twitter.com/jDiTnF5ivb
— Equal Education (@equal_education) November 23, 2021
