Boet Jegels primary school: Fast-growing communities pile pressure on Nelson Mandela Bay schools

Rapidly expanding communities in Nelson Mandela Bay are placing increasing pressure on schools designed to accommodate a limited number of pupils.

Boet Jegels Primary (formerly known as Booysen Park Primary) has not been left unscathed, as pupils from Chatty Extension, Khayamnandi in Despatch and KwaDwesi Extension flood the school.

Principal Fadiel Jaggers said schools in the area were built to accommodate 900 pupils.

However, Alfonso Aries Primary, the largest school in the northern areas, had more than 1,200 pupils.

“If you travel along Stanford Road, 5km down the street, you will end up in KwaNobuhle, and on the opposite end, if you travel north, you will see that there is a new housing development.

“So, every extension has an impact on the school community because these schools were built for a maximum of 900 learners,” Jaggers said.

“Two of the neighbouring schools have an excess of 900 learners. 

“Besides that, there is high unemployment, severe poverty and most of the parents are dependent on social grants.”

Jaggers said his school had to adjust its expectations.

“It is a very, very difficult situation.

“We also have Booysen Park extensions, but Timothy Valley on the other side, and then Jacksonville, and you have extensions 54, 52 and those areas.

“For that, there are two primary schools, but because of other influences, the learners from Timothy Valley come this way.

“Some learners from Jacksonville come this way. We have learners from Joe Slovo who are part of our school community.

“We have learners from Westville, which is the extension of KwaDwesi,” Jaggers said.

Asked if Boet Jegels had enough teachers, Jaggers said there was a teacher in every classroom.

However, he said the large number of pupils in classrooms resulted in teachers “chasing the curriculum” to avoid leaving children behind.

“Class sizes also have an impact because from my time at primary school, we were a maximum of 30 learners in the classroom, and teachers had time for individual attention.

“Now, you find teachers must recap what was taught yesterday, before starting a new lesson.

“So, you find that you are constantly chasing the curriculum, to make sure that, at the end of the term, the school meets the requirements of that curriculum.

“If the department can consider adjustments to the curriculum, particularly in the foundation phase, where teachers can give more time to skills development and knowledge.

“At the moment, there are four subjects in the foundation phase and in my time, we focused on one language, and then later on, a second language was introduced.

“Now the learners have got to manage two languages and then, apart from that, they have that third language at home.”

A shortage of books had also become a challenge.

In addition, getting pupils to do their homework was difficult because many lived in one-room shacks, with no space to do schoolwork.

“The children don’t have homework support.

“Some of them live in informal housing, where it’s just a one-room shack, and there’s very little that can take place in that shack.

“So, the child comes home, puts the bag down and is gone and back for supper time and bedtime.

“Adverse weather also poses additional challenges, and sleeping patterns change because now they are worried about their floors getting wet, whether the mattress will remain dry because the shacks leak.”

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