AFTER months of being crammed into small classrooms, pupils at Kingsway Primary no 2 in Springs, Ekurhuleni, finally have teachers.

From January, 99 Grade 1 pupils were squeezed into one classroom and 76 Grade 2 pupils shared a class while classrooms that were supposed to accommodate them were empty.

In the Grade 1 class some pupils had to sit on the floor while others knelt down and used their chairs as tables.

But when Sowetan made an enquiry about the situation at the school last week the district office swiftly sent teachers to the institution.

The desired pupil-teacher ratio is 1 to 40 in primary schools and 1 to 35 in high schools.

Education department spokesman Charles Phahlane said the province had enough teachers in all its schools.

He blamed the situation at Kingsway Primary on a human resources department glitch.

"After the 10-day head-count (at the beginning of the year), the department verifies the number of learners at a school and the number of teachers. These figures are given to HR to assist with allocation of personnel" he said.

"For instance, schools that have lost a number of learners would have a number of teachers declared in excess at that school.

"Those teachers would then need to be redeployed to the schools that need educators but at times you may find that they are teaching subjects that are not needed at the school with increased numbers of learners.

"After completion of the process, the teachers can be recruited by schools in growth posts."