Concerns about anticipated overcrowding ahead of schools reopening

With days to go before the reopening of both inland and coastal schools, the National Association of School Governing Bodies has raised concerns about anticipated overcrowding.

The organisation says overcrowding has become a nightmare and requires urgent intervention.

Association General Secretary Matakanye Matakanye says, ”Overcrowding is a nightmare, particularly, in the township schools, in the working-class school… so, it’s a nightmare. So, the National Association of School Governing Bodies has discussed this matter with the former minister. For now, we are thinking that they are still on that program of going on where the minister brings extra money to build extra classes, or if not that, then we are believing that now there will be a question of mobile classes.”

Minister for Basic Education Siviwe Gwarube says, has highlighted budget constraints as one of the reasons for overcrowding.

“Overcrowding, I think is, obviously, a result of two things; one, budget constraints in the system; two, it’s also a result of … remember, parents will always move to places of economic opportunities. So, in as much as the department plans to build schools in certain areas, sometimes those schools become abandoned because parents are moving more and more to cities.”

Gwarube says this migration tendencies leave the department with the option to extend schools or add additional classrooms to accommodate the changing situations.