Swamped teachers ‘expected to perform miracles’

In impoverished Eastern Cape citrus belt community, education is collapsing under pressure of inadequate infrastructure, staff shortages

Due to a lack of space, teachers and pupils at Bongolethu Primary in Nqweba (formerly Kirkwood) are forced to share a classroom. The school’s 749 pupils are crammed into facilities designed for fewer than 400 children
SPILLING OVER: Due to a lack of space, teachers and pupils at Bongolethu Primary in Nqweba (formerly Kirkwood) are forced to share a classroom. The school’s 749 pupils are crammed into facilities designed for fewer than 400 children
Image: HUGHAN MILBORROW

In a cramped classroom meant for 30 children, 70 pupils squeeze in shoulder-to-shoulder, bright-eyed and eager to learn.

But in the chaos, many of them will be pushed through to the next grade without being able to read a full sentence. 

Exhausted teachers juggle double workloads while trying to make do with the deteriorating infrastructure and absent parents who are not involved in their children’s education, either because they are too busy working or they lack the education to be able to assist with homework.

This is the everyday reality at Bongolethu Primary and Glentana Junior Primary in Nqweba (formerly Kirkwood), one of the poorest communities in the heart of the Eastern Cape’s citrus belt. 

The 2030 Reading Panel, chaired by former SA deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, released a report that found that about 80% of grade 3 pupils in SA are unable to read for meaning in any language.

Only 20% of grade 3 pupils are performing at grade level or above for reading in their home language.

Turning the Page literacy
Turning the Page literacy
Image: Supplied

The report said though some pupils were condoned (promoted to the next grade) at the end of the intermediate phase, outcomes after grade 4 were predictable.

“Grade 1 repetition, failing grade 1 maths and condonation at the end of grade 3 were also found to be predictive of grade 4 repetition.

“However, repetition of grade 1, which is often used as a system-wide remediation tool, has mixed effects, with evidence of initial negative impacts on reading fluency often offset by long-term gains,” the report said.

It also found that with a wave of retirements expected in 2030, the country was producing half the required number of foundation phase teachers.

Only three African language subjects in the foundation phase — Tshivenda, siSwati and isiNdebele — were meeting their required quota of new teachers.

The report warned about the broader implications of illiteracy, noting that children who could not read for meaning were at risk of misinterpreting basic information, which could have serious consequences.

In the Nqweba community, education is collapsing under the pressure of poverty and systemic failure. 

Residents rely on seasonal jobs during the citrus season — which typically runs from April to October — and battle to get by during the rest of the year.

In a cramped classroom meant for 30 children, 70 pupils squeeze in shoulder-to-shoulder, bright-eyed and eager to learn. But in the chaos, many of them will be pushed through to the next grade without being able to read a full sentence. This is the everyday reality at Bongolethu Primary in Nqweba (formerly Kirkwood), one of the poorest communities in the heart of the Eastern Cape’s citrus belt. The Herald spoke to Bongolethu principal Nokwanda Njobe who highlighted some of the challenges experiences by the school, including teachers. This special report into the state of literacy, a collaborative effort by The Herald, Sowetan and Daily Dispatch, was made possible by the Henry Nxumalo Foundation Reporting by Nomazima Nkosi Video by Hughan Milborrow Produced by Kelly Adams-Milborrow

Bongolethu and Glentana schools are situated in a community known as Bontrug, where 42.9% of homes are headed by women.

Bontrug has a population of 8,394, with 47.9% of young people dependent on adults.

Only 2.7% of residents have a higher education, 16.4% have completed their matric and 11.9% do not have any schooling at all.

Principals at both schools have sounded the alarm, saying systemic failure, deep poverty, neglect and a culture of alcohol abuse are negatively affecting the children’s education.

At Bongolethu, 749 pupils are crammed into facilities designed for fewer than 400 pupils.

The school previously accommodated pupils from grade R to grade 4 but it was upgraded by the education department in 2016 to serve pupils up to grade 7, according to principal Nokwanda Njobe.

“No additional classrooms or teachers were allocated,” she said.

“Our problem is a shortage of classrooms and a shortage of teachers. If we had teachers and classrooms, I don’t think the problem would be the issue it is now.

“Some classrooms have two classes squashed into one class, meaning there are over 70 children in one classroom and this means that there is no chance of one-on-one instruction.

“We have situations where we’ve got two teachers in one classroom. One teacher is teaching a class while another sits in the classroom and it feels as if teachers are critiquing each other.

“We have 14 educators for 749 learners. One teacher can have up to 50 children. We’re expected to do miracles,” Njobe says.

“There’s no library. There’s no security. We’ve written to the department, begging for just a container classroom.”

Bongolethu Primary School principal Nokwanda Njobe
UP AGAINST IT: Bongolethu Primary School principal Nokwanda Njobe
Image: HUGHAN MILBORROW

Njobe said the school’s request was simple, no luxuries, but essentials — classrooms, teachers and security.

The principal said the school struggled to get parents to assist their children with homework and assignments. 

“A lot of parents are working on the farms, picking oranges.

“Most of these companies have a no-work-no-pay policy so parents miss out on a lot because they can’t afford not to get paid.

“Parents leave early in the morning and come back after dark. There’s no time to look at their children’s work.

“We have challenges even when we’ve written letters to parents asking for meetings — they don’t show up.”

Njobe said Bongolethu’s biggest problem was the lack of classrooms because even if the department employed more teachers, there would be no space for them to teach.

“We’ve written letters asking for bungalows or containers. We would take that while they source funding to build proper classrooms.

“We also want a library. There’s no library at the school and no proper resources for the children.

“The department tries in its allocation of books but it’s not enough.”

Just a few metres up the road, Glentana Junior Primary principal Tembela Vumazonke echoed Njobe’s cries for help.

Vumazonke and her grade 3 English subject head, Lillian Dyonase, said reading levels at the school were dangerously low, with grade 3 pupils grappling with words they should have mastered in grade 1.

“Our children don’t know phonics. We create posters, we try everything, but some children just can’t comprehend what’s in front of them,” Vumazonke said.

Dyonase said the teachers tried to support pupils individually, but the sheer number of struggling youngsters made it impossible to keep up with the curriculum.

“We’re grade 3 teachers, but you find the words we’re teaching the pupils, the words they’re struggling with, are grade 1 or grade 2 words.

“I have a problem with children who don’t know how to read entire sentences.

“I even have to break down words and, [in] that time, we’ve got five sentences to go through and yet that’s how I’m teaching each class.

“There’s a disconnect somewhere between child, educator and parent. The biggest problem we’ve got with languages is isiXhosa, which is a home language [subject]. 

“Even though the children speak the language, they can’t read, write or comprehend,” Dyonase said.

Vumazonke said some parents had dropped out of school themselves, making it difficult for them to help their children with their homework.

Bongolethu and Glentana are also situated near taverns — a major headache for both schools.

Njobe said children as young as those in grade 4 consumed alcohol.

Dyonase said the proximity of the taverns was a big problem.

“There’s a lot of drinking that goes on in Kirkwood.

We also deal a lot with children who have learning disabilities and as educators we see this, but we’re not medical professionals and can’t give a diagnosis.

“We refer them to a departmental official who conducts such assessments, but the problem is there’s only one official for the entire district which creates a backlog.”

Eastern Cape education department spokesperson Vuyiseka Mboxela said the department was currently building 34 schools in the province, and while Glentana was not part of the figure, the department was obligated to address the challenges at the school.

“Increase of numbers in classes are a decision of the school because it's them that administer intake at the school.”

Mboxela said building new schools in communities depended on the determination of profiles conducted by the department.

The provincial government had budgeted R1.9bn for school infrastructure in the current financial year.

The number of schools in the province have been reduced from 5,285 to 4,976.

On the proximity of taverns close to schools, Mboxela said the liquor board had extended the radius of taverns to be 500m from schools.

“Previously, this was 100m,” she said.

This special report into the state of literacy, a collaborative effort by The Herald, Sowetan and Daily Dispatch, was made possible by the Henry Nxumalo Foundation

The Herald


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