20 February 2025
More than 100 grade 4 learners share desks in one of the overcrowded classrooms at Ketlane Primary School in Valdezia, Limpopo. Photo: Thembi Siaga
Grade 4 learners at Ketlane Primary School in Valdezia, Limpopo, sit shoulder-to-shoulder in desks with little to no space between them. Three other classes at the school are also overcrowded, with 87, 77, and 70 learners.
Now parents, teachers and community members are demanding that the Limpopo education department intervene to alleviate some of the school’s challenges.
In 2019, the provincial education department merged Ketlane and Mambedi primary schools to address low enrolment.
Ketlane Primary was built by Swiss missionaries over 100 years ago. The school has 602 learners but only ten classrooms available for teaching. The situation worsened after two of these classrooms were converted into an office for the principal and a staff room. A makeshift wooden structure is used to store books and other materials.
During a recent visit by GroundUp, teachers speaking on condition of anonymity said that they are struggling to manage such large classes that make it nearly impossible to give individual attention to learners. “It’s hard to teach effectively with this number of learners in one room. Many learners are left behind because we can’t give them the attention they need.”
Another teacher said 80% of the learners come from poor households and need extra support. “It’s not easy for teachers to walk around and check learners’ work due to the lack of space. We hope the department can assist us by building more classrooms.”
“Although we open the small windows for ventilation, the condition of some classrooms is deteriorating, and many are simply too small,” she said.
Despite receiving a donation of 100 school bags that convert into desks and chairs — courtesy of MiDesk and sponsored by the Technology Innovation Agency — the school still faces severe overcrowding because the classrooms are too small.
School governing board chairperson Frida Bilankulu said, “More classrooms need to be built. We’ve written several letters to the department but with no success.”
We sent additional questions to Mike Maringa, spokesperson for the Limpopo Department of Basic Education on 3 February.
He responded: “This is just another request, like many others. We are still dealing with disaster schools, so it cannot be a priority at this stage.”
Published with the Limpopo Mirror.