Parents hold another picket against overcrowding

HOUT Bay parents yesterday held yet another picket in the fishing community as their frustrations mount over schools’ limited capacity.

The parents have demanded that the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) make more teachers available.

Community leader Roscoe Jacobs said Hout Bay High School, in particular, had been faced with the challenge of overcrowding every year.

“There is a need for four more teachers. We were informed that the WCED, the MEC and the school had followed their internal process. But these words mean nothing without action.

“We have five primary schools in Hout Bay, and more than half of them have classes with a teacher/pupil ratio of 1:40.

“There are two high schools that are not better off,” said Jacobs.

The parents handed over a memorandum of demands, which includes that the WCED ensure class sizes are reduced from 50 pupils and that Hout Bay High gets four additional teachers.

Parent Florence Clarke said her daughter was struggling to concentrate in class because there was too much noise due to the overcrowding.

“The overcrowding and shortage of teachers affect the children, because there is less attention on them as individuals,” Clarke said.

WCED spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said a representative had collected the memorandum.

“The school had been allocated 12 teaching posts based on numbers provided in July 2019, as per post provisioning processes.

“In 2020, pupil numbers in Grade 8 enrolment were particularly high, with 140 pupils captured in Grade 8 with three classes. In Grade 12, however, they have 20 pupils in one class.

“In early February, the school was provided an additional teaching post, making their staff establishment 13. Therefore the allocation of posts to learners is 35:1,” Hammond said.

South African Democratic Teachers’ Union provincial chairperson Jonovan Rustin said overcrowding and teacher shortages were a constant problem.

“The matter of (a) shortage of teachers needs to be attended to as soon as possible.

“There is a high number of unemployed, qualified teachers and yet most schools in the province have shortages of teachers,” said Rustin.