No student will be left without a place, even if it means overcrowding, says Limpopo education MEC

Limpopo Education MEC says it will make sure every student gets a place at the school.

• The Limpopo Education MEC says it will make sure all pupils get a place at the school, even if it means overcrowding.
• Some schools he visited on Wednesday were overcrowded.
• There was no shortage of schools but rather a demand for schools in the cities, he said.

Limpopo Education MEC Mavhungu Lerule-Ramakhanya has vowed that no student in the province will be left without a place, even if it means overcrowding in some schools.

“It cannot happen that students are left without a place. Remember, the government is the champion of education for all.

“I, the MEC, am a political officer and should stand up for the rights and safety of all students. Your rights start with a chair in the classroom. There is no way we can allow that kind of situation to prevail.” Lerule-Ramakhanya said.

She was speaking to News24 about her whirlwind visit to schools in the Sekhukhune district on the first day of the 2023 academic year on Wednesday.

He maintained that the province does not have a shortage of schools, but had experienced an influx of parents to certain areas, especially urban ones, who were demanding that their children be placed in the schools of their choice.

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“But if the parents allowed the children too [attend] school in the municipalities and villages, and not only in the cities, then we can take care of our children. The team working on the issue told me that by Monday we should have been able to help 90% of parents,” Lerule-Ramakhanya said.

During the visit to the Sekhukhune district schools, which were chosen for their poor performance in recent years, Lerule-Ramakhanya faced overcrowding in classrooms, among others.

At the Kweledi Secondary School in Praktiseer, the school governing body (SGB) erected a huge corrugated iron hut that was divided into classrooms to alleviate overcrowding.

SGB ​​vice-president Merriam Magabe told News24 that since 2017 they had been writing to the authorities about overcrowding at the school, but to no avail.

“The area is very hot and we are afraid that some of the students will collapse in that hut,” Magabe said.

“Now that the authorities have seen it for themselves, we expect to see some tangible action this year.”