Sepanya (Setloking)

Sepanya Primary in Setloking, Limpopo. Eighty six kids. Three teachers. Let that sink in for a second. Three teachers. That is not a school, that is a family reunion where one uncle accidentally started teaching. One of those teachers is probably doing Grade R in the morning, Grade 5 after lunch, and coaching soccer after school because who else is going to do it? The man is running on fumes and government tea. Twenty eight point seven kids per teacher. Point seven of a child. Someone at the Department of Basic Education sat down with a calculator and decided that was a useful number to publish. Meanwhile the three teachers at Sepanya are looking at thirty kids per class thinking ja, the spreadsheet says 28.7 but the spreadsheet is not the one marking homework on a Sunday night. At least it is a no-fee school so nobody is getting robbed at the gate, which is genuinely something. Eighty six learners is a tight community, everybody knows everybody, the teacher knows your mother, your grandmother, and exactly what you got up to last weekend. No hiding at the back of the class here. There is no back of the class. There is just the class. Overall verdict: Sepanya is holding down an entire community on three pairs of tired shoulders, and those teachers deserve a bonus, a holiday, and probably a very strong cup of something.