The Department of Basic Education has published its 2011 Report on 2008 and 2009 Annual Surveys for Ordinary Schools. It is based on data collected via the 2008 and 2009 Annual Survey for Ordinary Schools conducted in March each year. The following are some of the key findings.

Number of schools

• In 2009 there were 25,827 ordinary schools (both public and independent) in South Africa.

Average class size

• The national average class size was 29. However, this hides the impact of low class sizes at independent schools. If you look only at public schools, the number jumps to 36.
• The national average also hides provincial inequities. Public schools in Limpopo had an average of 39 pupils per class.
• The national acceptable class size is 40. In 2009, more than 1,000 schools very large classes of up to 60 learners, the majority of which are in the Eastern Cape and KZN. Over 8,000 schools had more than the acceptable number of 40 per class.

Schools that offer Grade R

• In 2009, more than 15,000 ordinary schools offered Grade R. This amounts to 79% of all schools.
• The Eastern Cape has the highest percentage offering Grade R – 91%. The Free State is the lowest, with only 38% of schools offering Grade R.

Access to Information Communication Technology (ICT)

• Access to ICT in ordinary public schools is poor, with extremely low levels in poor provinces such as the Eastern Cape, Limpopo and KZN.
• Only 26% of schools have an e-mail address, with only 10% in Limpopo enjoying this essential facility.
• Only 56% of schools have landlines, but in the Eastern Cape this is much lower – less than one-third of schools have a landline.
• Less than 50% of schools have faxes, but in the Eastern Cape and Limpopo only 21% enjoy this facility.

School fees

• In 2009, 55% of schools were “no-fee schools” – less than the targeted 60%.
• The majority of fee charging schools charge less than R500 per year.

Attendance and preparedness for Grade 1

• In 2009, 71% of learners had participated in a pre-primary programme before enrolling in Grade 1. The highest number was in Limpopo (87%) and the lowest in the Free State (only 40%).
• Only 84% of Grade 1 learners were age appropriate (6/7). The remaining 16% were older than 7. The majority were older because they had repeated Grade 1.

Number of orphaned learners

• In 2009, more than two million children who enroled at school were either double or single orphans; almost 500,000 were double orphans.
• KZN has the highest number of double orphan learners (193,149), followed by the Eastern Cape at 96,337.

Learner pregnancy

• In 2008, just less than 50,000 girl learners fell pregnant. They ranged from girls in Grades 7 – 11.
• The highest number of learner pregnancies was in KZN (14,677), followed by Limpopo with 10,822 and the Eastern Cape at 96,337.

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