Thousands of teaching posts in the Western Cape on the line

In a profession already beset with challenges, educator’s contracts not being renewed in the Western Cape will add more strain to the sector.

The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) says all provincial government schools will start their Educator Staff Establishments on Friday, which includes the counting of existing teachers and how many will be retained for the 2025 academic year.

PICTURE: Pixabay

The WCED is preparing to lay off around 2 400 teachers. Education authorities says a budget shortfall is to blame. The department days the budget cuts will not only impact the educators but programmes and infrastructure projects as well.

‘’ We are doing everything we can to fight for our teachers, but we are being short-changed by the national government, receiving only 64% of the cost of the nationally negotiated wage agreement, leaving the province to fund the remaining 36%, resulting in a massive budget shortfall of R3.8 billion. We have done everything we can to fight for our teachers by imposing budget cuts across the board, including on administration, curriculum and infrastructure,’’ said David Maynier, Western Cape Education MEC.

CIRCULAR OF WCED INTENTION TO REDUCE TEACHER POST

According to National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa (NAPTOSA), there are currently 37 135 teachers in the Western Cape and 34,728 posts are now proposed for 2025.

‘’The ratio the WCED is projecting -- One teacher for every 36 learners. This is not translate to the reality within the classrooms teachers have in every classroom,’’ said Riedwaan Ahmed, NAPTOSA Western Cape Provincial CEO.

‘’Unions is in the proses of rescuing the current announcements for education, it looks like contract posts will be attended to first to go out the window. In their address they have asked for the pro poor and requested not to touch the foundation phases,’’ he added.

GOOD Secretary General, Brett Herron, says the reduction in educator posts will affect the quality of education learners receive in government schools.

‘’Once again, it is the poorer and less-resourced schools that will feel these cuts the most as the parents will be unable to fund, through school fees, the appointment of additional educators.’’

‘’Parents in increasingly dense, but middle to low income communities, are already struggling to get their children into schools with parents increasingly reporting that applications for access to schools for 2025 are being declined,’’ he added.

 

Done by: Mitchum George