Two of the largest teacher unions in South Africa have lodged formal disputes against the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) over its plan to cut more than 2 000 teaching posts, Cape {town} Etc reports.
Also read: Thousands of teaching posts to be cut in the Western Cape
On 28 August, the WCED announced that approximately 2 400 teachers would lose their jobs due to a budget shortfall of R3.8 billion over the next three years.
National Treasury funded only 64% of the Compensation for Employees, meaning the province must fund the remaining 36%.
Despite implementing an R2.5 billion budget cut, the WCED said it had to take drastic steps to remain fiscally stable.
‘Teachers are our greatest asset, and reducing the number of teachers in our schools will negatively impact learning outcomes, so this is a decision that we have not taken lightly,’ it said in a statement.
‘We are doing everything we can to fight for our teachers, and have raised the matter at the Council of Education Ministers (CEM) for urgent action because these budget shortfalls impact all the provinces.’
‘We should never have been put in this position, and we will do everything we can to fight for our teachers in the Western Cape.’
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On Sunday, the department noted that it is not firing nor retrenching teachers.
‘The reduction in posts will mean that some contract teachers will not be reappointed after their contracts end on 31 December 2024, and some permanent teachers will be asked to move to another school where there is a suitable vacancy.’
‘We understand that this will result in difficult choices for our schools. We have been engaging with teachers’ unions in this regard over the past month, to ensure that they understand the reason behind this decision.’
However, the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (SADTU) in the Western Cape claims that the consultations were ‘insufficient and meaningless because the employer did not consider any saving mechanisms proposed by labour to save the current post basket’.
‘SADTU in the Western Cape rejects, with the contempt it deserves, the Western Cape Education Department’s (WCED) proposal to reduce the 2025 basket of educator posts,’ it said on Monday.
‘While we acknowledge the reduction of the WCED budget, we believe that the employer did not explore all areas where they could reduce spending.’
SADTU proposed that the WCED halts the Back on Track programme for 2025 because it ‘only benefits a fraction of the learners who [have] experienced learning losses during the Covid-19 lockdown period’.
The organisation also proposed the suspension of the Annual Systemic Evaluation, which reportedly costs ‘millions of rands’ for 2025.
‘The poor working-class communities will bear the brunt of the reduction of the posts’ basket. It is a well-known fact that quality public education is the only way (…) for the poor to escape the cycle of poverty.’
‘Cutting the number of educator posts will have dire consequences for the poor working-class schools that are already overcrowded and cannot afford to employ additional School Governing Body (SGB) staff. Overcrowded classrooms will affect the well-being of teachers and result in an increase in disciplinary challenges at schools.’
‘The challenge of access to education will be increased as there is no budget for learners who migrate from other provinces. The brunt of WCED decisions to cut the number of posts will be borne by the vulnerable poor working-class children who, by far, are black (So called coloured and African), and this will increase the already existing gap between the poor and those who can afford to pay.’
News24 reports that the National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa) also lodged a dispute.
‘Given the severity of the situation, we are hoping that this will be resolved as soon as possible. If not, we will embark on strike action,’ said Naptosa CEO Riedwaan Ahmed.
Trade union federation Cosatu also rejected the department’s decision.
‘We reject this move. We want a meaningful resolution to this. We want pressure placed on this DA government because we cannot allow this to happen,’ said Cosatu’s provincial secretary, Malvern de Bruyn.
‘We are calling for an urgent review of this decision or we will join the unions during the downing of tools.’
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