Last year Grocott's reported on the state of farm schools in the Cacadu district and discovered low spirits and a shortage of teachers. A year later Grocott's reporters Jessica Caroline Taylor and Lauren Davidson investigate the current situation.
Farm schools in Makana may still lack teachers and many resources, but go into the classrooms and you will be impressed by the vibe and determination of staff and students alike.
This comes as something of a surprise. The government decided earlier this year to intervene in the Eastern Cape's ongoing education crisis by taking control. But relations haven't been easy since then, and national education authorities have become frustrated at how little has been achieved.
Last year Grocott's reported on the state of farm schools in the Cacadu district and discovered low spirits and a shortage of teachers. A year later Grocott's reporters Jessica Caroline Taylor and Lauren Davidson investigate the current situation.
Farm schools in Makana may still lack teachers and many resources, but go into the classrooms and you will be impressed by the vibe and determination of staff and students alike.
This comes as something of a surprise. The government decided earlier this year to intervene in the Eastern Cape's ongoing education crisis by taking control. But relations haven't been easy since then, and national education authorities have become frustrated at how little has been achieved.
Recently there have been angry exchanges, with the national education ministry claiming its provincial counterpart has refused to cooperate in attempts to repair the virtually collapsed system of education in the Eastern Cape.
Underlying the conflict between the national government and the provincial authorities about who should act to clean up the mess, is the original poor state of education that led to the crisis in the first place.
Just last year, reporters visited several farm schools in the Cacadu district to see conditions for themselves and concluded that learning was at a virtual standstill.
Now, however, despite some serious challenges, it seems that education is actually happening at these schools.
At Mosslands Primary School, off the N2, about 20km from Grahamstown, we found a little brick building serving the farm community of Mosslands. The principal and the only teacher is Koliwe Ncanywa, who runs a well-disciplined, happy school.
We arrived just as pupils were about to start classes after a break. When Grocott's visited last year she was teaching a total of 18 pupils across six grades. Now the numbers are up to 30, from Grade 1 to Grade 6, and the children sat quietly as we talked to Ncanywa.
The building is in good condition, but there's no ceiling. Ncanywa says she has been trying to organise with the department to have a ceiling installed and she's optimistic that she'll succeed.
She also tells us that the school has a computer – although it doesn't work. Again, she's hopeful that she'll get somewhere with the authorities and that it will eventually be repaired. Once it's up and running she'll need proper training before she can use it.
In Ncanywa's view there are sometimes problems, but the department does provide resources: "Sometimes there are hiccups, like delays, but we follow up and they deliver."
On the Kenton side of Salem, we arrive at the Farmerfield Primary School, where the challenges have increased significantly over the past year. A year ago, there were seven teachers; now there are only four and between them they must teach 89 pupils, from Grade R to Grade 9.
The three teachers lost to the school were redeployed by the provincial department, in its attempt to meet the requirement of 25 pupils per teacher in other schools with an even greater staff shortage.
One of the Farmerfield teachers, Ntombise Nqokoqa, says the problem is that she and her colleagues have to teach more than one grade at a time.
“We are overloaded. It has been very difficult. For instance, I am teaching Grade 7, Grade 8 and Grade 9."
Ncanywa and Nqokoqa say more teachers will improve the quality of education at their schools.
