Several schools in South Africa continue to face teaching and learning challenges due to a lack of resources. Challenges associated This is especially true for one school in the Eastern Cape which often has more than 100 learners per classroom.
Nogemane Senior Secondary School in Ngqeleni, Eastern Cape has more than 1,300 enrolled learners. However, a lack of furniture and a shortage of teachers is hindering teaching and learning at the school.
The school only has 15 classrooms to accommodate more than 1,300 learners. This means that classrooms routinely accommodate more than 120 learners. These learners also share desks as there is not enough furniture.
Thabo Zangwa, a learner at the school says there is a dire shortage of classrooms. This often means that learners have to wait for other classes to conclude before they can go to class. This is negatively impacting learning at the school.
In 2017, concerned parents approached the provincial education department with their concerns. The department promised parents that 10 mobile classrooms would be delivered to the school, however, in the five years that have passed, only five classrooms were delivered.
The Eastern Cape Education Department’s Vuyiseka Mboxela says they are addressing the lack of resources at schools in the province. They add that 188 schools will be receiving furniture during the 2023 school year.
Mboxela added that the department is working to address the challenges concerning teacher shortages. This includes moving teachers to schools that require their services.
Class sizes at Nogemane Senior Secondary School also outnumber the Department of Basic Education’s (DBE) ideal maximum class size of 37 learners for subjects that can accommodate large class sizes.
There are currently no legislated norms and standards for learner-to-educator ratio in public schools.
The DBE explains that class sizes experienced by learners at schools are an outcome of various factors in the provisioning of educators.
Factors that influence class size can include the availability of classroom space, distribution of learners within and across grades, an increase of learners in certain geographic areas, time-tabling and school size.
