The rural town called Centane, which lies between Butterworth and the ocean, has five junior secondary schools servicing the area. No doubt this is too many for the size of the local population, if you judge by the pressure to secure enrolments-and teaching posts.
Patricia Noah Junior Secondary and Mpentsa’s Junior Secondary are examples of schools vying for learners. On the face of it, Patricia Noah has more to offer: located right in the town of Centane, its brick buildings are well maintained, and it has ample water tanks (a big plus in a town without running water).
Another advantage, says acting principal Joatham Koyana, is, ”We have good teachers for extramural activities. When it comes to classwork, we just go and teach. There’s a tendency in other schools for teachers not to attend, or to just keep the children occupied.”
But, complains Koyana, ”School committees from neighbouring schools came here and forced the pupils to attend their schools. The only people I will now allow to move learners is the parents.”
Enrolment at Patricia Noah is now 320. One of the eight teachers has already been redeployed.
Principal Mkuseli Mfaxa from Mpentsa’s Junior Secondary in the nearby village explains why the students are being taken away from Patricia Noah: ”There was a mass meeting by the community. It was decided that parents must make the pupils understand that Mpentsa’s is their school, and the fate of it depends on their support. Otherwise it dies.” Enrolment figures have recently gone up from 175 to 238, ”and they’re still coming because of pressure from the parents,” says Mfaxa. Learners as old as 20 can find a place at the school because of the need for numbers.
Still, conditions are far from as comfortable as those at Patricia Noah. ”The prefab buildings are rotting,” says Mfaxa, and luxuries like electricity and adequate water tanks are not available.
But when the dreaded words ”educator in excess” may soon appear next to your persal number, keeping pupils is the same as keeping your job.
— The Teacher/Mail & Guardian, Johannesburg, April 2001.