Equal Education launches campaign against overcrowding in Gauteng schools

Non-profit organisation Equal Education has launched a campaign against overcrowding in Gauteng schools.

The campaign titled “#NoSpaceForUs” is based on research that the organisation conducted between September 2019 and June 2020 at nine schools in Etwatwa, Ekurhuleni.

Equal Education’s researcher Katherine Sutherland says it’s evident that overcrowding is a problem as more than 70% of classes at the schools that they had surveyed had more than 40 learners.

“EE’s Gauteng learner members (Equalisers) have long spoken of the significant challenge that overcrowding in schools has on their ability to learn and on the ability of teachers to teach. 74% of classes (557 of 751) that we inspected had over 40 learners.”

“Seven out of the nine schools had at least 15% more learners than the building was designed to hold. 66% of the classroom buildings that we measured were too small for the number of learners that they held. 82% of the classrooms buildings we inspected had too little furniture for the number of learners inside them. 65% of the teachers we interviewed were overworked,” says Sutherland.

A school can be considered overcrowded when – due to a shortage of school resources and/or lack of school autonomy – some class sizes grow to the extent that teachers’ and learners’ ability to create an effective learning environment is limited. #NoSpaceForUs
– Nicola Soekoe. pic.twitter.com/7UnOErpGpo

— Equal Education (@equal_education) November 27, 2021