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Gauteng learners continue to endure overcrowded classrooms and struggle for placement every year because of severe school shortages. This follows a reply from the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) confirming the scale of the crisis: only 202 public schools have been built over the past 32 years, barely six per year. Meanwhile, numerous schools inherited from the previous dispensation remain abandoned and unused instead of being used to ease this crisis.

The Democratic Alliance will write to Gauteng MEC for Education, Lebogang Maile, requesting him to conduct and publish a comprehensive audit of all these abandoned and underutilised school properties across the province to assess which buildings can be safely renovated and reopened for use, particularly in high-pressure school placement zones.

Unfortunately, the department has failed to harness the potential of this existing public infrastructure, which could help relieve severe overcrowding and accommodate learners who remain unplaced because schools in high-pressure areas have reached capacity.

It is equally illogical that, as noted in MEC Maile's written response to DA questions in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL), the department spent more than R1.4 billion on temporary classrooms over five years. Instead of focusing on long-term solutions, like upgrading and repurposing existing school infrastructure from the pre-1994 administration, the department invested heavily in quick fixes.

Temporary classrooms may provide short-term relief, but they cannot substitute for safe, permanent school infrastructure. By assessing, renovating, and reopening viable abandoned schools, the department could expand capacity in high-pressure areas, reduce overcrowding, and ensure better value for taxpayers’ money.

No child should be denied access to education or forced to learn in an overcrowded or temporary classroom that is not conducive to learning. Children must not suffer because of the failures of a provincial government that could not plan for population growth by building schools, while effectively maintaining and refurbishing existing infrastructure.

The DA has consistently called for safe, closed schools to be refurbished and reopened, bringing schools closer to communities and making better use of existing infrastructure.

A DA-led Gauteng Provincial Government would prioritise proactive infrastructure audits, early intervention at at-risk schools, and the strategic reuse of vacant school buildings to expand access to safe and functional learning environments across Gauteng.

Issued by DA Shadow MEC for Education Sergio Isa Dos Santos