Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za

3-minute read
31 August 2024 | 19:34 CAT

The Western Cape Education Department says about 2 400 teaching jobs will be cut next year. (PeopleImages/Getty Images)

More than 2,000 teachers in the Western Cape will lose their jobs from January 11 next year. The Head of Education, Brent Walters, stated in a circular that the department only received 64% of the cost of the public sector wage agreement, with the province funding the remaining 36%.

The provincial education department faces an R3.8 billion budget shortfall over the next three years.

Basil Manuel of the National Professional Teachers Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa) has described the news as a crisis, arguing that this will negatively impact teaching in the province.

“We are talking about 2,400 plus teachers and there is no way not on this good green earth of the Lord that we can imagine that this will be in the best interest of the child or of schooling in general,” he says.

Manuel argues that this decision does not serve the best interests of children, teachers, or the education system.

The reduction of teaching posts will lead to larger class sizes, which could seriously impede learning. It will also significantly increase the workload of the remaining teachers.

He added, “Given that we have an integrated model where there are children of various abilities in the same class the child with less ability gets less attention because they are crowded out.”

Manual also dismissed the notion that these budget shortfalls are due to increasing public sector wages, describing it as a half-truth.

“Budgets are determined by the needs of things and I know budgets have been cut however to Simply lump it with salaries is disingenuous,” he says.

Meanwhile, in November 2023, the WCED issued a circular outlining its plans to deal with a budget deficit of more than R870 million in the 2024/25 financial year. This deficit covers the costs of the increases in the nationally negotiated public sector wage agreement.

The implementation of these cost-cutting measures means that the WCED will not employ substitute teachers for any reason except for maternity leave coverage. In addition, any Post Level (PL) 1 posts not filled via conversion to permanent positions by March 31 2024, would be required to follow a formal recruitment process.

This meant that some contract teachers in the province were sent home and would now have to follow formal recruitment processes before returning to the classroom.

Listen to the full interview on The Daily Round Up with Moulana Junaid Kharsany and Basil Manuel here.