Johannesburg - The grade 7 maths teacher gingerly writes on a whiteboard balancing precariously behind the driver’s seat as he explains square root sums.
The pupils, some struggling to balance their notebooks on their laps, looked on, jotted down some notes and unravelled the puzzle. Others, sitting at the back of the classroom, removed their shoes and stood on their feet in a bid to get a better view.
This was the situation at Kwanele Primary school in Katlehong, Ekurhuleni, on Monday, where pupils have been forced to use a bus as a classroom because of a dire shortage of facilities.
But it is not only the Grade 7 pupils who have to contend with learning in a makeshift classroom.
In a Grade 3 class, a young girl struggled to keep her balance while sitting on a bucket because there are not enough chairs.
Many of her classmates also sat on buckets. Others sat on the concrete floor, while the few who managed to get a seat had to share. In some of the classrooms, as many as three pupils shared a desk.
The principal and teachers are forced to share a small room and use it as an office, while some bathrooms are used as a storeroom. Apart from the shortage of furniture and basic amenities, there is a problem of overcrowding at Kwanele Primary. It has an enrolment of about 1 600 pupils from Grade R to Grade 7 and 40 teachers, school governing body (SGB) member Phindile Skhosana said.
“In one of the classes there are 74 learners. This is not the way for our children to learn,” she said.
Skhosana explained that the school buses that pupils are taught in were a desperate measure that educators were forced to implement.
“There is no other space for all the pupils. The department needs to build more classrooms and hire more teachers.”
The dire situation at the school was revealed yesterday during a surprise visit to the premises by the DA’s Gauteng education spokesman, Khume Ramulifho, who echoed the sentiments of the frustrated SGB members and parents.
A group of DA supporters in the party’s regalia congregated outside the school to express their outrage at the lack of infrastructure.
They carried signs which said “#BusClassroomsMustFall” as well as “We deserve better infrastructure”.
But the difficult learning and teaching conditions for the teachers and pupils did not seem to dampen the spirit of the Grade 7 maths teacher and his pupils learning in the bus. The pupils diligently participated in the lesson, often competing to answer questions and complete their tasks.
Ramulifho demanded answers from the Gauteng Department of Education. “These conditions are not conducive to learning or teaching. This doesn’t spark the interest of the learners because they can’t concentrate in such conditions.”
He lambasted the department for not taking pupils’ education seriously, saying that Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi paid more attention to providing “paperless” classrooms to some learners, while others didn’t have the basics.
“His priorities are skewed, he boasts about introducing technology into schools, but not all classrooms have the basics.”
Last month, Lesufi unveiled the new Chief Albert Luthuli Primary School in Daveyton where Grade 7 pupils were given laptops, saying at the time that it was a the school of the future.
Departmental spokesman Oupa Bodibe said district officials had already been sent to Kwanele to assess the situation. “It must be noted that the department is facing an increased demand for space in most of our schools, and we are doing everything possible to address the situation,”he said.
The Department of Basic Education’s norms and standards on school infrastructure state that the average space for a pupil in school must be at least 1.2 square metres, with a maximum of 40 pupils in a classroom.
The Star