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This weblog is a portal for news and items of general interest from the town of Aberdeen in the Camdeboo area of the Cacadu district of the Eastern Cape, South Africa. The weblog's overiding purpose is to publicise the town and promote tourism in the region.

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Monday, February 4, 2013

Back to school

Aberdeen schools are hard at work already, with all reporting a successful first week. Principals are happy to report that the necessary stationery arrived in plenty of time, although Aberdeen Secondary has received less than one third of the required text books.

Of more concern is the vacant posts which has inevitably led to large class sizes and in the case of the secondary school, classes without teachers. The district office in Graaff-Reinet has not be able to offer any reassurance to the schools as to when the vacant posts will be filled, and apparently have to wait for Head Office in Bisho.

Aberdeen Primary School has an enrolment of just under 400 at this stage, and they are still waiting for some children to return. Classes are big, with over fifty children in one class in both grade three and grade seven. Many of the children come in from the farms in the district, and these are accommodated in the school hostel. They have ten teachers on their staff, but are still waiting for the replacement for two temporary teachers. One teacher has been appointed by the school's governing body, and the principal is very grateful to this dedicated lady who is a key member of staff. Grade One classes were off to a flying start on the first day, with well-planned activities underway from the beginning. Most of the children had been in Grade R the previous year so settled in quickly, although the Grade R teacher did have a few tears to contend with!

Kamdebo Primary is the largest school in the area, with over 600 pupils. Of their 22 teachers, two are paid by the SGB, and there is one vacant post following the retirement of a teacher last year. They are fortunate to be able to have smaller classes, with the two grade five classes being the biggest with 36 pupils each. Grade One classes were busy colouring in worksheets almost as soon as they got to the classrooms, and the teachers were able to improvise an alternate activity for those unexpected extra children who arrived on the first day. Each child was able to use a brand-new set of pencil crayons, which was a real treat for many.

At Luxolo Intermediate School, over 400 pupils started the day with assembly in the open, and then were taken to their new classrooms. Once again the Grade One teachers were on the ball, and had a programme of activities planned for the children. Parents had collected their children's exercise books earlier in the week, so they had already had a chance to cover them. The children at this school looked particularly smart, with almost all in full uniform in the distinctive black and yellow. This school is particularly hard hit regarding staffing, as they currently only have nine teachers to fill the twelve posts. One teacher retired at the end of last year, a new HOD post has been granted, and the temporary teacher from last year has not yet been reappointed. Except for Grade One, there is only one class in each year, and the Grade Four class has sixty children.

Aberdeen Secondary is also badly understaffed at this stage, with only fifteen teachers instead of the required eighteen. Fortunately their two temporary teachers have been appointed until March, but they have not received replacements for the two teachers who have left or the one young teacher who was tragically killed in a motor accident in December. At the moment, teachers are having to spend their administrative periods supervising the classes without teachers, which is far from ideal. Two teachers are urgently needed for English (first additional language), and also one for business studies for grades ten to twelve. There are 565 children enrolled at the school, but as of last Friday, only 507 were at this stage in class.