Cape Town - The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) has confirmed it resolved an issue at Ocean View Secondary School, where 89 learners were crammed inside a classroom.
But education activists have challenged this, arguing it was impossible following the cut of 2 407 teachers.
The flag was raised by a parent via Facebook, in which she stated that her child attended Grade 11 at Ocean View Secondary School, claiming class sizes reached a whopping 89 learners.
In order to protect the identity of the learner, the parents’s name is being withheld.
“I am worried about the impact that this overcrowding is having on the students' learning experience and overall well-being,” the parent wrote.
“The current class sizes are too large, with some classes having over 89 students.
“This is making it difficult for students to receive individual attention and support from their teachers, and is also creating a distracting and chaotic learning environment.
“I am concerned that this overcrowding is not only affecting the students' academic performance, but also their mental and emotional health.”
Following the public post and a query by the Cape Argus, Education MEC David Maynier’s spokesperson, Kerry Mauchline, said the matter was attended to.
“The school reports that this matter was resolved a week ago, by adjusting their timetable,” she said.
“The district will continue to assist the school with timetable management.”
When asked about the class ratio of teacher to learner, she said the number remained constant at present of one teacher per nearly 37 learners.
“Our projected average class size is the same as provided previously, until we have new numbers from the 10th day SNAP data,” Mauchline said.
Just last week, the WCED said a circuit manager was called to Sunray Primary School in Delft, where 96 Grade 3 learners were taught inside a media room.
Vanessa Le Roux, of Parents for Equal Education, said they challenged the number ratio by the department.
“The statement of what the department is saying is not true,” she said.
“We must also bear in mind that those rich wealthy schools were not affected by the budget cuts.
“So how can it be that the ratio stays the same if nine teachers are cut from a school.
“They need to come-up with a more believable lie than this.
“They did say they want to make 400 posts available.
“Why were these white lilly and leafy schools not affected and they were able to appoint SBG teachers, why are we facing the brunt of the cut, now they are trying to hide it.”
The department earlier said that their budget would see 477 new growth posts available and they intended to complete nine new schools and 265 additional classrooms for the year 2025.
Maynier was also flung into the spotlight last week when he said he would not tolerate intimidation at schools by political parties after he was accused of “secretly” excluding 400 schools from the teacher cuts.
He said in response that it was propaganda and that only Special Needs schools were not affected.