BL Premium reports that spot checks at state schools have revealed thousands of underqualified grade R teachers, money siphoned from food budgets to pay for matric farewell events, overloaded school buses and dangerously dilapidated classrooms.

The office of the auditor-general’s presentation to MPs on Tuesday highlighted the immensely challenging public school environment confronting many pupils. The researchers scrutinised the provision of early childhood development, the national school nutrition programme, pupil transport, construction budgets and school improvement plans in all nine provinces. Audits revealed that the education department in KwaZulu-Natal had hired 2,200 grade R teachers who did not meet the minimum qualification requirement. At a school in North West, 251 grade R children were accommodated in only two classrooms, and most of the schools the researchers visited did not have safe playgrounds for young children. Analysis of the national school nutrition programme, which provides free meals to more than 9-million pupils, revealed poor stock control and unhygienic storage and preparation facilities in many schools. The auditor-general’s office found poor management of the transport system, with many pupils having to walk long distances or travel in dangerously overloaded vehicles. Weak management in some schools meant there were no plans to continuously improve the facilities, funds were misappropriated, teachers abused the leave system and data on pupils’ performance was not being captured or analysed.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tamar Kahn at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
• Read too, Half of SA teachers fail to meet Grade 4 literacy level, at The Citizen

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page