Desperate times for poor schools

SCHOOLS in Nelson Mandela Bay's northern areas are being forced to go into fundraising overdrive as they battle severe teacher shortages.

Their chief concern is a crippling lack of Afrikaans-speaking teachers.

Principals spoke of the frustration and stress of having to contend with a lack of teachers at their no-fee-paying schools, which has seen many of them leaving their offices to return to the classroom to teach full-time.

In a bid to fill the gaping vacancies, schools have had to somehow come up with the money to pay their own teachers while others call back retired teachers to help out in exchange for a small stipend.

Principals feel that the department has long turned a blind eye to their desperate plight as hundreds of pupils in schools, including Cedarberg, Republiek and Rufane Donkin primary schools, sit without teachers. - Zandile Mbabela