{"id":97752,"date":"2025-05-18T10:44:16","date_gmt":"2025-05-18T08:44:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/?p=97752"},"modified":"2025-05-18T10:44:16","modified_gmt":"2025-05-18T08:44:16","slug":"thanganani-primary-school-opens-amid-teacher-shortage-and-infrastructure-delays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/thanganani-primary-school-opens-amid-teacher-shortage-and-infrastructure-delays\/","title":{"rendered":"Thanganani Primary School Opens Amid Teacher Shortage and Infrastructure Delays"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za<\/a> <\/em>
\n2-minute read
\n18 May 2025 | 09:37 CAT<\/p>\n

\"\"

Tanganani Primary School pupils, who\u2019ve missed 5 months of school, attend classes for the first time since the start of the 2025 academic year. The school faced months of construction delays. (File-Photo: Sowetan LIVE)<\/p><\/div>\n

A slow start to the academic year at Thanganani Primary School in Gauteng has caused concern among parents, as learners arrived to find a school still under construction and no permanent teachers in place. The Department of Education has since confirmed that the teacher recruitment process is underway, with classes temporarily led by subject advisors.<\/p>\n

Steve Mabona, spokesperson for the Gauteng Department of Education, dismissed claims that children had been left without schooling, explaining that \u201cmost of them, they relocated around April\u201d, and others transferred from independent schools due to financial constraints. He noted that many learners were temporarily accommodated in nearby schools, resulting in overcrowding while awaiting the completion of Thanganani Primary.<\/p>\n

According to Mabona, \u201cWe had planned to open the school on the 5th of May,\u201d but delays caused by interference from a local business forum forced the department to postpone both occupation and staff recruitment. \u201cYou could not advertise and appoint people that are going to be sitting without going into a school\u2026 that\u2019s going to be a fruitless expenditure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the absence of permanent staff, Mabona assured that \u201cteaching is happening\u201d through the efforts of subject advisors and departmental facilitators. Baseline assessments are currently being conducted while the department finalises interviews and vetting processes. \u201cWe took a decision in 2023 that all teachers and non-teaching employees\u2026 should go through the process of vetting,\u201d he said, emphasising the department’s commitment to safety.<\/p>\n

The school, which currently houses 185 learners, is expected to admit over 450 more in the coming weeks as classrooms are completed and permanent teachers placed. \u201cCurrently, we have only eight classes that are occupied\u2026 we still have 10 classes that are empty,\u201d Mabona noted, highlighting ongoing infrastructure developments.<\/p>\n

While critics argue the department should have reassigned teachers from other schools, Mabona stated, \u201cThat area is a high-pressure area\u2026 there\u2019s no teacher that is in access.\u201d Recruitment efforts are expected to be completed within two weeks.<\/p>\n

Although the late start raises concerns about academic disruptions, the department maintains that learners \u201care coming with reports\u201d and were not without schooling. For now, the focus remains on fast-tracking recruitment and stabilising teaching conditions at Thanganani Primary.<\/p>\n

Listen<\/strong> to the full interview on The Daily Round Up with Moulana Junaid Kharsany and spokesperson Steve Mabona here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za 2-minute read 18 May 2025 | 09:37 CAT A slow start to the academic year at Thanganani Primary School in Gauteng has caused concern among parents, as learners arrived to find a school still under construction and no permanent teachers in place. The Department of Education has since confirmed that the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":97753,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28,4995],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-south-africa"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/images-4.jpg?fit=275%2C183&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-pqE","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-23 01:05:42","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97752\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}