The Democratic Alliance welcomes the fact that the majority of learners have been placed since the opening of schools a week ago. However, some concerns still remain that hamper the quality of teaching and learning. If the department is serious about improving the quality of education, it cannot wait for a week or more to sort out these problems.

During the oversight visits that DA MPLs and councillors have undertaken in the past week, we have noticed that a number of schools have put in requests for extra teachers. The requests are often necessary because the schools had temporary teachers at the end of one year and the temporary teachers have been re-assigned to different schools. The positions are then left vacant and are often not filled by permanent staff. We are told that these requests will only be processed at the end of the January survey. This is a ten day period which the department uses to monitor and evaluate teaching at schools. It simply cannot be that there are learners without teachers for ten or more days.

We are also concerned about the availability of Afrikaans classes in the Kimberley area. Clearly, there is a demand for English and parents are welcome to choose their preferred language. However, it seems that primary schools in Kimberley cannot provide in the current demand for Afrikaans classes. Kevin Nkoane Primary School has one Afrikaans class for grade ones. At the moment, there are almost 40 children in this class. It is too much for one teacher to handle and is above the norm of 1 teacher for 30 children. I am aware of a grade 1 learner who
lives down the road from the school who has not been placed in the school, because there’s simply no space for her. There is a limited number of classes available for Afrikaans learners, because schools like Vooruitsig Primary School and Flamingo Primary School have largely phased out Afrikaans as a language of teaching. We have to
find a balance between the languages to ensure that no learner is deprived of quality education.

We urge the department of education and all schools to plan properly at the end of each year for the beginning of the next year. On the first day of school, learning and teaching must start. This cannot happen if learners don’t have classes or if classes don’t have teachers.

Issued by the DA