Overcrowded schools, problems relating to student admissions and some infrastructure concerns were some of the challenges noted in schools in Limpopo’s Vhembe and Sekhukhune education districts by a Portfolio Committee on Basic Education delegation during a visit there to assess schools’ readiness for the 2024 academic year. Despite these challenges, the delegation concluded its work feeling optimistic.
Leader of the delegation Ms Nombuyiselo Adoons said the delegation believes these challenges can be overcome and, indeed, they had not affected the start of schooling in the districts.
Yesterday, the delegation visited three schools in the Sekhukhune Education District, where the delegation commended the schools for ensuring that learning and teaching began on time with few problems. After visiting Bosele Special School, Onane Primary School and Tjetje Technical High School, the committee delegation met with stakeholders in the sector to discuss challenges and the way forward.
These stakeholders included the Limpopo Department of Education, the national Department of Basic Education, the provincial Portfolio Committee on Education, school governing body associations, organised labour and the South African Principals’ Association.
Bosele Special School caters from blind and deaf children from grades R to 7 and members of staff reported that its greatest problem is the enormous electricity Bill it gets from Eskom amounting to some R100 000 a month – a huge burden for the school. Repairs, emergency safety features and the need for additional house parents were other challenges requiring attention. “In spite of all this, the school is doing well, infrastructure is good and they are performing academically,” Ms Adoons remarked.
At Onane Primary School, the committee delegation observed that the school is overcrowded. “As we have seen at the good-performing schools, overcrowding becomes a challenge. This is one of the best-performing schools, so many parents want their kids to be taught here. This leads to shortages of classrooms. The school needs eight temporary classrooms, if building permanent classrooms cannot happen in the immediate future,” Ms Adoons noted.
Ms Adoons also mentioned that the department had to employ extra security guards for the school due to regular vandalism. “We want to appeal to the community to assist the school. The facilities are for the benefit of your children, to better their future. Do not allow thugs and criminals to rob them of achieving greater things. Stand together, protect your school and name and shame those criminals in the community. The officials and law enforcement cannot do this alone,” she said.
At Tjetje Technical High School, the delegation was concerned about the fluctuating Grade 12 pass rate over the years. The class of 2023 achieved a 70.8% pass rate, a 4% decline from the previous year. “The performance is worrisome, a concern to us. It is fluctuating very badly, to a certain point where the school even had 30% then it jumped to 80% and back down to 50%. We are requesting that the department pay attention to the school and understand the challenges causing this,” Ms Adoons said.
Summarising proceedings at the stakeholder meeting, Ms Adoons said the delegation recognised the work achieved since the previous oversight visit in 2020. “The province has moved from position nine to seven in terms of Grade 12 results and is in the top four performing provinces in terms of Bachelor’s passes. A lot of improvement was done in terms of infrastructure to improve their systems and to improve leadership and management of schools. However, we note more could be done in terms of overcrowding and admission of learners to schools,” Ms Adoons observed.
Rajaa Azzakani
24 January 2024
Arrange a tour