Overcrowded schools: teachers take strain

Calls to review pupil:teacher ratio

SMALL but crowded spaces, tiring days and uncontrollable rowdiness is what teachers in KwaZulu-Natal classrooms have to deal with every day.

While the Post Provisional Norm (PPN) – the model designed to set the ideal ratio of teachers and pupils per class – is 1 is to 32, many schools are exceeding this limit by almost double.

The Department of Education in KZN blames this on principals who, it said, were enrolling far more pupils than required.

“They are only thinking about getting more pupils, so that they can improve their school with the money they receive from fees,” said department spokesperson, Muzi Mahlambi.

“We look at the PPN to be a great indicator for classrooms across the province. However, we see that it does not seem to be carried out (by principals) and schools put themselves in a bad situation by allowing this to happen. They are taking in pupils above their capacity.”

The provincial chief executive officer of the National Professional Teachers Organisation of SA in KZN, Thirona Moodley, said they were unhappy with overcrowding in schools

“They (pupils) are squashed up and in most schools there aren’t enough toilets.”

Media liaison officer for the SA Democratic Teachers Union, Nomusa Cembi, said the union had always raised concerns about overcrowding of classrooms.

“Overcrowding negatively affects the delivery of quality education as the learners do not receive effective individual attention. Maintaining discipline in an overcrowded classroom is a challenge.”

She said the department should employ additional teachers and provide the right infrastructure.

“The current PPN model needs to be reviewed. It does not consider small schools and the different subject streams offered. This leads to some schools having to adopt a multi-grade system (two or more grades in one class) or the school offering fewer subject streams.”

Teachers, who declined to be named as they are not permitted to speak to the media, and retired principals also spoke on the issue.

“There are 62 pupils in my class and I can’t manage them all,” said a Grade 2 teacher at a school in central Durban.

The teacher, who has been in the profession for three decades, said it was impossible to meet the department’s demands. “The want us to do group work. How do they expect me to put 62 learners into groups?”

A teacher of 35 years’ standing, who teaches Grade 4 children in Mayville, said times had changed.

“When I started out teaching in 1984, the core basis of going to school was education. Today it’s more about the money.”

Principals, she said, were “only interested in collecting as much school fees as they can, to ensure the upkeep of their schools. I once had 25 pupils in my class and today, I have 65”.

She said the high pupil:teacher ratio had taken a strain on her.

“I have to try and ensure that I give every pupil the attention he or she deserves, because parents are demanding results. But it’s near impossible to do this.”

She hopes the government will intervene. “They need to ensure that principals adhere to the capacity limit set out by the department.”

If this did not happen, she said, teaching and learning would continue to be negatively impacted.

Retired principal, Ronnie Moodley, said: “We have to look at the issue holistically. Yes, we have to adhere to the PPN. However, there isn’t a clear understanding of how the rule works.”

He continued: “We have to enrol pupils who live in the vicinity of schools, and this leads to us exceeding the PPN requirements.”

Another retired principal, Gordon Govender, claimed the department had instructed principals to enrol more learners and as a result the pupil:teacher ratio had risen.

Education expert, Professor Wayne Hugo, said it was the level of education, rather than class overcrowding, that was the problem.

“If everyone in a class is up to speed with what is being taught, the number in a classroom should not be a problem.”