Masitakhe Secondary School (Matsulu)

Masitakhe Secondary School in Matsulu, Mpumalanga. One thousand five hundred and forty one learners. Thirty eight teachers. A ratio of 40.6 to 1. Broe, that is not a classroom, that is a taxi rank with a chalkboard. The teacher is basically a taxi driver at this point, just shouting "DRIEËNDERTIG! DRIEËNDERTIG!" trying to get everyone seated before pulling off. Thirty eight educators for 1541 kids. Do you understand what that means? If one teacher calls in sick, the ratio becomes a natural disaster. The deputy principal is probably teaching Maths, Life Orientation, Physical Science AND doing the tuck shop on Fridays. There is a teacher somewhere in that school who has not had a free period since 2011 and is running purely on instant coffee and unresolved trauma. And Matsulu, look, we love Mpumalanga, beautiful province, Big Five, Kruger Park right there, but the kids at Masitakhe are out here trying to focus on quadratic equations while the teacher is basically managing a small stadium full of teenagers with the staffroom of a corner spaza shop. Forty learners per teacher is not a school experience, that is crowd control with a syllabus. Overall verdict: Masitakhe is basically running a miracle every single day, because somehow those 38 teachers are holding down 1541 futures, which honestly deserves a Bells whisky ad, not a roast.