We’re on the case — Eastern Cape education bosses on bombshell report

The Eastern Cape education department says it has long been working to address some of the problems highlighted in a bombshell report which suggests that pupil enrolments and school numbers in the province are in free fall.

The “Education in Numbers” report, released last week by the Federation of Governing Bodies of South African Schools (Fedsas), paints a grim picture of the state of education in the province.

According to the report, at least 650 Eastern Cape schools have closed and more than 300,000 pupils have fallen through the cracks since 2009. 

While Gauteng and the Western Cape record big increases in pupil numbers, enrolments in the Eastern Cape have declined to an average of 466 pupils per school.

Fedsas deputy CEO Riaan van der Bergh said the findings pointed to “clear tendencies” that should form the basis of data-driven decision-making.

“One of the most important findings is that not nearly enough schools were built in the right areas over the past 14 years to accommodate the growth in the number of pupils. Many of the current challenges facing schools are directly related to a lack of infrastructure,” he said.

However, Eastern Cape education spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima said the department had been working for more than a decade to address some of the challenges.

According to the Fedsas report, since 2009 pupil numbers have increased 7% nationally.

“Of great concern is the situation in the Western Cape and Gauteng.

“In the Western Cape, the number of learners increased by nearly 289,000 since 2009.

“In Gauteng, the number of learners increased by nearly 725,000.

“On average, schools in Gauteng accommodate 1,100 learners, which is nearly double the national average. Yet over the past 10 years only five new schools were built in Gauteng.”

Van der Bergh said in the Eastern Cape the opposite was happening.

“Since 2009, more than 650 schools closed down and the total number of learners decreased by more than 300,000. On average, schools in the Eastern Cape accommodate 466 learners.”

He said the need for more state schools in the right areas was underlined by the growth in the number of independent schools. Countrywide, there are nearly 740,000 pupils in 2,325 independent schools.

“In Gauteng, 31% of all schools are independent schools, with a noticeable increase in the Western Cape and Limpopo. To some extent, the increase in the number of independent schools hides the shortage of state schools in certain areas. For example, the situation in Gauteng would have been untenable without independent schools.”

Though there were 7% more pupils, the number of teachers had increased by a mere 1%, he said. Another interesting finding was the significant decrease of the number of boys in grades 11 and 12.

Nelson Mandela Bay education expert Prof Susan van Rensburg said: “There is often a mismatch between what the educational system prescribes centrally and what needs to happen when you execute this at a provincial level.

“So factors like migration to other provinces, for a host of reasons, are simply not addressed.”

She said the influx of people to other provinces strained their budgets.

Mtima said the Eastern Cape education department had since 2013 been implementing a service delivery model to help address the many challenges. He said the challenges included:

• A decline in school enrolments due to a decrease in population growth and increasing migration out of the province;
• An inefficient school system characterised by a high number of small and non-viable schools that are well below the national norms, and that are difficult to adequately resource with teachers and learning materials; and
• A high rate of inappropriate school configurations (junior primary, senior primary, junior secondary) which are out of alignment with the national model, and which hinder effective curriculum delivery.

He said these challenges were partly a result of the dissimilar and inefficient schooling system inherited from the former Transkei, Ciskei and Cape Province education departments, but also an outcome of the province’s geographical and sociological influences.

“The service delivery model addresses the above issues through four key processes: redesign of the department’s organisational structure; redesign of the provincial system into new districts and circuits; renewed focus on management and resource provision at the circuit level; and the rationalisation and realignment of the network of schools in terms of school classification.

“The rationalisation and realignment of schools is carried out under the Schools Rationalisation and Realignment Programme, which seeks to reduce the number of small and inefficient schools through mergers and closures and reclassify nonconforming schools into either primary or secondary schools.”

Mtima said in 2016, the average school size in the province was 346 pupils — far below the national average of 506.

In rural areas, the figure was often far lower because of migration patterns and depopulation of rural schools.

“Through carefully planned closures and mergers, the department aims to increase the average school size to over 500 learners and have a more manageable number of schools which will be more effectively resourced.

“The department has also developed circuit school landscape plans to guide the process of identifying the schools to be closed or merged through a systematic and analytical process.

“The closure of a large number of schools within the Eastern Cape education system is therefore part of a carefully planned and phased programme of school mergers and closures aimed at concentrating enrolment in fewer, better-resourced schools and ultimately improving the quality of education for our learners.

“While the number of learners has indeed declined in the province, this decline is driven by complex economic, social, demographic and cultural changes which are outside the department’s scope.

“However, the department is working to ensure access to quality education at primary and secondary levels throughout the province and especially in rural areas.

“This will be supported by efficient and comprehensive scholar transport provision and a network of strategically located, well-managed hostels,” he said.

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