SEDC decries classroom shortage
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Thursday March 3, 2016 17:01
A full council meeting on Monday learnt that there is need for additional education facilities even with the low enrolment levels. “This is particularly the case in secondary schools as there are a variety of subjects taught separately. In junior secondary schools, out of a capacity of 4,590 students, 3,683 students were enroled, which indicates 82.2% enrolment. “
“All junior schools are undersubscribed though, with a total of 23 classes taught either in outdoor teaching areas or in laboratories which compromises the quality of teaching and learning,” said Kgomotso Kesianye, the Principal District Officer Development.
She said the expansion of the affected schools would be covered in the next District Development Plan and others through the Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP).
Kesianye said out of a total capacity of 4,880 students in all the three senior schools in South East District, all schools are oversubscribed except for Kagiso Senior Secondary School with 70.5 percent enrolment.
“Total shortage adds up to 18 classrooms in all schools. This gap will be addressed during the next period as the expansion of schools has been submitted for the National Development Plan 11/District Development Plan 8,” she said.
In primary schools, the full council was told that eight out of 19 schools have extra classrooms while three out of 19 schools have shortage of classrooms. “The schools in short supply of classrooms are St Bernard’s, St Joseph’s and school for the deaf with a total shortage of nine classrooms overall. However, this shortage will be addressed through the ongoing primary school backlog eradication project as well as the recently introduced ESP,” she said.
The principal officer further revealed that the 2015 results for Junior Certificate Examinations (JSE) shows that the district attained only 11.3 percent pass which indicates a drop of 3.3 percent comparing results with the previous year. On issues of teenage pregnancy, the principal officer said there is an upward trend in the level of teenage pregnancy cases received during the current financial year.
“There has been a sharp increase in the level of pregnancy between first quarter and third quarter alone, teenage pregnancy cases increased by 26 cases which indicates an increase of over 100%,” she said.