Teacher crisis looms
2003-12-07 07:45
Sphiwe Mboyane and Dominic Mahlangu
Johannesburg - Thousands of teachers across the country could lose their jobs next year when the provincial education departments restructure, City Press reports.
In KwaZulu-Natal, it is believed 8 000 teachers may lose their jobs if the department pushes ahead with its restructuring plans.
Some 3 000 posts in the Eastern Cape have been vacant since November 2002 and there appears to be no plan to fill these vacancies. Gauteng has 5 000 vacancies.
In Limpopo, 3 000 posts of heads of department have yet to be filled in terms of the current post-provisioning model, and 300 ordinary teachers' posts are only now being advertised.
The general secretary of the SA Democratic Teachers' Union (Sadtu), Thulas Nxesi, said the threat of the restructuring process resulting in retrenchments was very worrying.
Sadtu's general secretary in KwaZulu-Natal, Ndaba Gcwabaza, said the teachers' union would discuss the issue with Education Minister Kader Asmal next week. Gcwabaza said the department's proposal for a 1:35 teacher-pupil ratio would probably lead to the retrenchments.
However, KwaZulu-Natal education department spokesperson Mandla Msibi denied claims made by Sadtu and insisted that all permanent teachers would retain their jobs. Only temporary teachers would be affected by the changes.
"The second problem is that many teachers are ill and have to be replaced. This is costing us a lot of money. We have 2.4 million learners in the province and this limits our budget in terms of employing more teachers. If we could get more money, we would employ more teachers," said Msibi.
He added that the department intended advertising more than 5 000 posts for teachers.
The director-general in the department of education, Thami Mseleku, said he was not convinced that thousands of teachers could be retrenched as there were always mechanisms to accommodate them. In areas with too many teachers, redeployment was always used as an option.
Sadtu's general secretary in the Eastern Cape, Mxolisi Dimaza, said the provincial department was still to fill 3 000 posts which have been vacant since November 2002.
The problems facing teachers are worsened by the seeming inability of the department to fill thousands of vacancies in all provinces.
In addition, thousands of teachers have been declared to be in "excess" in terms of resolution 7 of 2002. These teachers, most of whom do not have appropriate qualifications, will either be redeployed or dismissed.
In Limpopo, 3 000 head-of-department positions are yet to be filled in terms of the current post-provisioning model, and 300 ordinary teachers' posts have only now been advertised.