Cape Town - Member of the Bishop Lavis Action Community (BLAC), together with schoolchildren, barricaded the gates of Nooitgedacht Primary School on Thursday, to protest against the shortage of teachers at the school.
BLAC liaison officer Amanda Davids said posts, which were vacated last year, hadn’t been filled and four weeks into the new term the education department had still not allocated teachers.
“At a parents meeting last night it was decided to blockade the school with a placard demonstration to highlight the situation of our school and many other schools where educators have not been allocated teachers four weeks into the new school term,” Davids said.
As a no-fee school, Davids said the school did not have funds to support the two school governing board (SGB) teachers.
“Our school is one of many
facing this situation.
“If we have to combine Grade 3 the class will have 73 learners, and combining the Grade 7s will leave the class with 68 learners,” she said.
However, Western Cape Education Department (WCED) spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said officials explained the process of post allocations to the SGB.
“While we understand that some schools are facing challenges with large class sizes, the disruption of learning does more harm than good.
“Schools will soon be informed whether their applications for additional posts have been successful, “ Hammond said.
She said the WCED was finalising its analysis of data and the allocations that would be provided to schools.
“Schools will be informed soon about whether their applications for additional post(s) are successful or not,” she said.
Davids said: “We need the WCED to pay for at least two teachers.
“We cannot have a Grade 7 class sitting without a teacher.
“They need to address it and this needs to happen immediately.
“We are already dealing with high crime and substance abuse in our
area.
“We cannot let children sit without a teacher.”
She said the protest would continue “until we get a positive answer”.
@Mtuzeli