South Africa: There Are 90 Learners to a Class in This Limpopo School

4 September 2024
GroundUp (Cape Town)
By Bernard Chiguvare

Such classes are uncontrollable, says a teacher

  • Classes at two Musina secondary schools are overcrowded, with one school reporting as many as 90 learners in a class.
  • This makes teaching very hard, say members of the governing bodies.
  • They say they have asked the Limpopo education department to build another school.
  • But the department says the schools can ask for extra mobile classrooms and they have not done so.

Some classes at a Musina secondary school have as many as 90 learners, making teaching all but impossible, teachers say.

There are seven primary schools but only two no-fee secondary schools in the Limpopo town: Musina High and Renaissance High. Learners finishing grade seven at Beitbridge, Makushu, St Martin De Porrez, Bonwa-Udi, Rixile, and Gateway struggle to get into the two schools, and when they do, they must sit in overcrowded classes.

When GroundUp visited the schools on Monday, we were told that Renaissance High has an average of 90 learners in its four grade 8 classes; Musina High has an average of 50 learners in its eight classes.

Kganetjo Moyo, chair of the Renaissance High School Governing Body, told GroundUp the school is supposed to have 800 learners but currently has more than 1,600.

"Most classes are overcrowded, making it very hard for teachers to pay attention to each learner. Grade 8 has the most overcrowded classes. Some learners have to sit on the floor as there is no space for desks," said Moyo.

Another member of the SGB, Norah Ndlovu, said: "This teacher-to-learner ratio makes it very difficult for educators to fully attend to the needs of all learners. It contributes to a low pass rate."

She said the department should take into consideration that Musina is the first stop for immigrants coming into the country, many of whom have children. "It is also reasonable to accommodate all these learners. This adds to the number of learners at the primary and secondary schools."

Deputy SGB chair Albert Musekwa said the Limpopo Department of Education should tackle the shortage of places in secondary school. "We are aware of some learners who are out of school as they could not secure places for grade 8," he said.

"Teaching an overcrowded class makes life for the teacher unbearable," said a teacher. "In fact such classes are uncontrollable." He said there was too much marking to do during the school week. "At times we end up working over weekends looking at learners' work."

A Renaissance High learner who is now in matric said in grade 8 he had been in a class of more than 90 learners. "We are not all gifted the same. Some learners need more attention than others, but my experience while in grade 8 was that teachers would not attend to all learners as we were over 90 learners in one class. Some learners will make noise every minute making it very difficult for the teacher to control all learners."

Spokesperson for the provincial education department Mosebjane Kgaffe said there were three secondary schools in the town including Hoerskool Eric Louw, which is a fee-paying school.

She said parents who cannot afford paying fees are allowed by law to apply for exemption and if it is not granted they can appeal to the department.

Parents GroundUp spoke to said they were not aware of the exemption.

"Not many parents are able to send their children to a paying fee school as they are unemployed," said Ndlovu.

Asked about the teacher-to-learner ratio, Kgaffe said the department was not aware of this. She said if a school was oversubscribed the school could apply for additional classrooms like mobile classrooms. She told GroundUp the department had not received any such request from the schools.

But members of both SGBs said the department is aware of the over-subscription.

Peter Jack, a member of the Musina School Association, told GroundUp that the department had been alerted ten years ago to the need to build more public secondary schools but nothing had been done. "We have on several occasions come across learners hanging around spaza shops during school hours. The learners often tell us they have not been able to secure places for grade 8 at either of the two secondary schools. This is a cause for concern for all residents in Musina," said Jack.

At Renaissance High the principal declined to speak to GroundUp. At Musina High, we were not able to speak to the principal without an appointment.

A Musina parent whose child has been out of school for two years is afraid that this could be the end of her child's schooling. At the beginning of 2023 the child transferred from a school in Makhado to Musina but has so far not managed to secure a grade 9 place at either of the two schools.

She also tried this year to secure her child a place for 2025 but so far has not been successful.

"As a parent I appeal to the department to urgently address the lack of secondary schools in Musina," she said.

Read the original article on GroundUp.

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