A headcount for new entrants at primary and secondary schools in the Khomas region has commenced on Tuesday, to determine how many learners still need space. 

“We started the headcount at different schools. We observed that classrooms are full to capacity. By Friday, we will have a better picture of whether there are spaces to accommodate more learners or increase the ratio,” stated Khomas education deputy director for programmes and quality assurance Paulus Lewin.

“We are just helping every child, but it’s illegal to exceed the ratio,” he said.

The exercise also aims to find out if there are still places available for many learners still seeking school placement, in particular, grades 1 and 8 still.

Khomas has 48 primary, 31 secondary and six special schools.

Although preliminary findings of the number of learners admitted in both pre-primary, primary, and secondary schools will only be available once the headcount is finalised, indications are that some public schools are being forced to accommodate more learners.  This is against the education act with the agreed ratio of one teacher per 30 learners in secondary school while for primary school it’s one teacher per 35 learners due to inadequate classrooms. 

For pre-primary schools, the ratio is one teacher per 25 learners.

Lewin in an interview with New Era yesterday confirmed that schools are overwhelmed by the influx of parents seeking placements. 

He confirmed that the set ratio for primary school normally exceeds one teacher per 50 learners, while secondary can reach one teacher per 42 learners, and pre-primary school often reaches one teacher per 30 learners, which leads to overcrowding in schools.

Lewin said the problem is that the number of primary schools in Khomas in relation to secondary schools is not in the equation.

“We have more grade 7s leaving primary schools and looking for places in grade 8. Finding space for them is difficult. We have more primary schools than secondary schools,” he explained. 

As a mitigation measure, Lewin added the Khomas education directorate has over the years increased the number of classrooms, especially in the informal settlements.

This he said too has challenges. Because the more classrooms you have, the more difficult it becomes to manage.

He, however, promised that Khomas will make sure no child is turned away or left without a place in school. 

–anakale@nepc.com.na