Alexandra Parliamentary Constituency Office’s (PCO) recent breakfast engagement session at the AlexSan Kopano Resources Centre laid bare the serious problems confronting schools in Alexandra.

The gathering brought together educators, district officials, and government representatives, including Deputy Minister for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities Mmapaseka Steve Letsike, for open discussion on challenges plaguing Alexandra schools.

Read more: Infrastructure challenges make Alexandra schools almost unusable

“The most important objective of this session speaks to how we recognise the education sector. When we talk about how we recognise education not just as a responsibility of the school alone but everybody, including parents and School Governing Bodies (SGB),” Letsike explained.

She called for frankness, stating that only by openly naming the challenges can stakeholders begin to transform the sector.

Participants and district officials shared a range of issues, with overcrowding in schools flagged as one of the most pressing concerns.

According to the district’s presentation, schools in Alexandra are severely congested, with learners sometimes forced to share chairs and tables. Complaints of overcrowding often come from parents of already‑placed children, who resist further admissions to prevent overcrowding at schools where their learners are enrolled.

Still, admission pressures continue to overwhelm the education system. The district reported being swamped by applications in 2026, resulting in the district featuring among the districts grappling with a concerning number of unplaced learners.

Despite current challenges, learners at the primary school level continue to show strong performance, but results tend to decline in the senior phase, partly due to disruptions caused by changing school environments and the influence of negative peer habits, the presentation revealed.

Letsike also noted that infrastructure deficits and administrative bottlenecks compound the crisis.

Also read: Councillor vows to fight for Alex schools after oversight visit

Meanwhile, 31 management posts remain vacant in schools in Alexandra and surrounding areas, with the district aiming to fill them by the end of February.

Stakeholders also spoke about social and behavioural challenges, highlighting substance use among young people, teenage pregnancy, and widespread discipline issues.

Substance use was flagged as a concerning issue, with some primary school learners smoking cigarettes, while high school learners are increasingly hooked on e‑cigarettes, often viewing them as fashionable.

Although schools in Alexandra show somewhat better substance‑use statistics than neighbouring areas, the trend remains alarming.

“We must do our best to support the schools, end violence, substance use and teenage pregnancies,” Letsike shared.

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