It's most evident in under-resourced schools, where class sizes are ballooning due to insufficient teaching staff.

The community of Bishop Lavis in Cape Town (BLAC) is set to protest today over overcrowding and the absence of science subjects in local schools.

The Western Cape province Education Department's last year terminated just over 2 400 teaching posts.

BLAC Spokesperson Amanda Davids says, "At the moment, we have 60 learners per classroom because of the layoffs." We have no more pure maths or physical sciences, and that is a problem because we already have the 30% pass rate for matriculants, and we know our children can't do anything with that. And now taking away pure math and physical sciences, what does this say.”

--SABC--