Bursting Bay schools happy extra classrooms on the way

OVERCROWDED Nelson Mandela Bay primary schools with more than double the number of pupils they are meant to accommodate are hopeful this term is the last they spend bursting at the seams.

Eastern Cape Education MEC Mandla Makupula and superintendent-general Mthunywa Ngonzo this week promised the schools additional classrooms by the start of the second term next month.

Ngonzo had announced in January, after severe overcrowding was highlighted at three Nelson Mandela Bay primary schools, that the department had set aside R60-million to tackle the overflow. It will also do away with grades 8 and 9 in primary schools.

Now Alfonso Arries, Kwanoxolo and Imbasa primary schools – all serving developing RDP settlements in the Bay – are hanging on to authorities' promises to deal with the problem. -