Equal Education Research says overcrowding remains a problem, leading to the poor state of infrastructure in schools. The advocacy group is holding two picket lines on Wednesday in Gauteng and the Western Cape, demanding, among other things, the inclusion of all unplaced learners in both provinces.
The head of the research team, Elizabeth Biney, says the pace at which the government is addressing the infrastructure backlog is slow. Biney says that there is not enough financial investment to maintain this.
“When you have conditions where schools are overcrowded, it impacts other infrastructure demands such as your water and sanitation infrastructure, because a school might have been built to only cater for 700 students and teachers and now it is accommodating 900. The extra 200 learners will still be using the same infrastructure that was not planned for. The infrastructure wears out quickly and needs to be maintained or replaced at the rate that can be able to accommodate these people.”
VIDEO: Back to School | Overcrowding, poor infrastructure challenges in the Eastern Cape
VIDEO: Numerous North West schools facing dire infrastructure challenges
