Education Minister Dirk Currie explained that new students who still have not been enrolled keep showing up every day. He expects the actual number to be clear after October 15th. Minister Currie on Thursday told parliament that the Education Ministry is currently busy putting students in schools. He pointed out that 24,083 students have already been put in the AVO schools which provide secondary education at junior level. The actual number is still not known because the numbers keep changing. The principals of the nation’s schools must inform the ministry of the current state of affairs before October 21st so that the ministry can have a clear picture of the situation at the start of the new school year.

The shortage of spots for students at the schools is not the only problem as there is also a growing shortage of teachers. There is a shortage of 86 teachers at the primary schools and 74 at the schools for secondary education at junior level. There is reportedly a huge shortage of math, biology, art, physical education and science teachers. The statistics also indicate that the high schools still need 27 teachers. The Education Ministry tries to address the issue in various ways. It has asked the other ministries to temporarily assign state employees with a license to teach at schools for 5 hours at the most. Another option is to provide distance learning especially for certain subjects at high school level. The shortage of classrooms remains one of the biggest challenges. The Education Ministry is currently having 93 classrooms and 3 ICT rooms built. Minister Currie expects these classrooms to be ready by the end of December. Students who currently attend classes 2 or 3 days in the week will finally be able to attend classes 5 days a week starting in the second semester. The Education Ministry has also added new school bus routes to make sure that the students who have been put in schools that are located far away can go to school. According to Currie, about 300 students who have been selected, still have not reported back.