Olifantsfontein Primary School battles with overcrowding
Promises to build two new schools never materialised
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng conducted an oversight inspection after the DA received numerous complaints from parents over the admission process at Olifantsfontein Primary School.
The oversight inspection was done at the school in Olifantsfontein on January 16. The oversight inspection was led and conducted by Khume Ramulifho MPL DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Education. The MEC founded that Olifantsfontein Primary is the only primary school in Clayville and is also the oldest school in the area. With more than 10 new extensions that have been built over the years, the school is struggling to accommodate all the learners in the area.
Ramulifho said in 2013 the former MEC for Education, Barbara Creecy, promised to build two more schools, but this never happened even though there was land available for these new schools to be built.
“This school is under pressure and the department had promised four years ago to provide mobile classrooms but this has not been done.
“The school’s resources are now constrained and each grade has five classes. The average number of learners per class is supposed to be 40 learners, but this school has more than 60 learners per class.
“In order to accommodate all the learners, the school has converted all their storage space into classrooms. In addition, there are no more specialised classrooms at the school,” said Ramulifho.
“The environment at the school is not conducive for teaching and learning, which has a negative impact on the education of these learners.
“The DA is calling on the department to provide additional mobile classrooms and teachers, as well as learning and teaching support material so that learning and teaching can take place in a conducive environment.
“The DA will be tabling questions in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL) to ascertain when the department will be building the two new schools as previously promised,” said Ramulifho.
