Question NW798 to the Minister of Basic Education
09 April 2024 - NW798
Nodada, Mr BB to ask the Minister of Basic Education
What is the current average learner to teacher ratio at public schools (a) in each grade and (b) over the medium term (i) nationally and (ii) per province?
Reply:
(a) and (b)
The Department of Basic Education collects data of schools that incudes class data on learners and teaching staff. However, it should be noted that it is self-reported. The data used below includes teaching staff that are paid by the State and School Governing Bodies as well as ordinary and Special Education Needs learners that attends Public Ordinary, Special and Vocational Schools.
The Department provided Learner Educator Ratio (LER) for primary and secondary rather than per grade due to low response rate in terms of educators indicating the grades that they are teaching. It is also to be noted that the teaching staff includes Principals and other School Management Team members that have reduced contact time and therefore lowers the LER.
Table 1: Learner Educator Ratio in primary and secondary schools, by province, in 2023.
|
Province |
PRIMARY SCHOOL |
SECONDARY SCHOOL |
|
EC |
29,0 |
32,5 |
|
FS |
31,6 |
29,6 |
|
GT |
31,9 |
29,0 |
|
KZN |
30,4 |
31,2 |
|
LP |
35,4 |
30,7 |
|
MP |
33,2 |
30,4 |
|
NC |
30,2 |
25,3 |
|
NW |
32,3 |
29,7 |
|
WC |
30,5 |
29,4 |
|
NAT |
31,6 |
30,3 |