Abstract:
The after effects of apartheid education are still felt acutely in our present
education system. According to statistics released by the Department of Basic
Education, one quarter of South African schools are overcrowded.1 This denotes
a critical shortage of classrooms countrywide, particularly in the former black
schools that continue to be overcrowded. Gauteng is not an exception to the
nationwide norm. Former black schools in the province have average learnereducator
ratios as high as 1:54 per class in comparison to former Model C
schools2 with learner-educator ratios as low as 1:19 per class.
