Koster – The influx of people from farms around Koster in South Africa’s North West has led to overcrowding at Mphe-Bana High School, the North West portfolio committee on education, arts, culture and traditional affairs heard on Thursday.
“Overcrowding is a serious problem. The influx of people from farms around had led to this challenge. The school also has a shortage of furniture,” Kgetleng area manager Benjamin Molokoe told the committee.
The committee visited the Mphe-Bana High School in Reagile following media reports that teachers refused to go classes due to overcrowding at the school and parents threatened to pull their children out of school until the issued had been addressed.
“It cannot be right, it cannot happen even for a day that a learner is taught while standing. It cannot be allowed,” committee member Hoffman Galeng said.
The school had the capacity to enroll 650 pupils, but this year its roll call stood at 1,690. The highest overcrowded classroom had 133 learners, forcing four learners to share a desk.
Molokoe said the school needed 509 tables and 482 chairs. After the school re-opened this year, a 100 chairs and 100 tables were delivered, as well as two mobile classrooms. Two more mobile classrooms were expected to arrived at the school by February 10.
On January 22, the department delivered 100 chairs and 100 tables at the school, but the majority of the tables were of not the right size for high school learners. They were small in size, suitable for Grade 1 leaners.
The overcrowding had been experienced since 2014. Last year the school had registered 1 620 learners.
Mphe-Bana is the only high school in Reagile, yet despite its overcrowding issue the school obtained a pass rate of 85, 88 percent in their matric examinations last year.
The other high school near is the Koster Combine School, but learners could not be enrolled there because it uses Afrikaans as a medium of teaching.
Committee chairperson Boitumelo Moiloa said she was shocked and disappointed about the situation at Mphe-Bana.
“The department of education must supply furniture and it will appear before the committee by Tuesday [next week] to account. We want to know what is the department doing about this situation.”
She said school furniture was not negotiable and the department must supply the school with furniture before Monday.
She was also not happy that one parent had been forced to buy a chair and table for her child.
“The parent indicated that she is not going to buy again this year. This means overcrowding has been going for a time.”
Committee member Jane Manganyi said the department could also source furniture from schools which were closed when they merge with other schools in order to reduce the shortage of furniture at Mphe-Bana.
African News Agency
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