GOOD Statement by Brett Herron ,
GOOD Secretary-General & Member of the Western Cape Parliament
21 January 2025
The GOOD Party condemns the alleged overcrowding in a classroom in Delft.
The Cape Argus reports that 96 Grade 3 learners have been crammed into the Sunray Primary School’s media centre.
Even if this setup is labelled as “temporary,” it is nothing short of a travesty.
This is nearly three times the teacher-to-student ratio released by the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) of 1 teacher to 36 students.
It isn’t just impractical, it is profoundly damaging to academic pursuits.
According to educational experts there is an undeniable correlation between class size and academic achievement.
The negative effects of oversized classrooms ripple through every aspect of education.
With desks, chairs, and textbooks in limited supply, students are left without basic tools for learning.
Teachers are overwhelmed and unable to give struggling students the support they need. Managing such a large group becomes an exercise in crowd control, leaving little room for meaningful interaction.
This crisis is unfolding against the backdrop of the Province’s teacher cuts. As schools in under-resourced areas grapple with these challenges, the situation is poised to deteriorate further.
Underprivileged areas, who already receive limited resources, have shouldered the brunt of the cuts. Areas like Delft, Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain lost 78, 142 and 176 teachers respectively.
We don’t have to look far to see where this systemic neglect leads.
According to results released in the 2024 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, 80% of South African Grade 4 pupils cannot read for meaning.
The province remains below the national pass rate of 87.3% (W CAPE 86.6%), with a provincial ranking of fifth place.
Allowing our classrooms to become warehouses of neglected potential is not an option.
The GOOD Party calls on the Western Cape government to prioritise education and save teacher posts.
Education is not just a line item in a budget; it is the foundation of a just and equitable society.
The cost of inaction is a generation of lost futures.