Cape Town — There are concerns over the Western Cape Education Department’s (WCED) decision to cut more than 2 400 teaching posts as of next year.
The WCED announced that, due to budget cuts in the department, it will still fall R3.8 billion short in the next three years, leaving no choice but to cut 2 4000 teaching posts, TimesLIVE reported.
Provincial education MEC, David Maynier, explained that the department was doing all it could to fight for the teachers but was short-changed by the national government. He said they only received 64% of the nationally agreed-upon wage agreement, meaning the province had to fund 36%. resulting in the R3.8 billion shortfall.
Maynier said it was left with no choice but to reduce the educator basket by 2 400 staff.
Great discussion with the @WCEDnews Broad Management and Leadership today, about how, despite the challenges we face, we can improve the learning outcomes of the children of the Western Cape. pic.twitter.com/iXXiuReVAB
— David Maynier (@DavidMaynier) August 29, 2024
According to IOL, Cape Forum has expressed concerns over the decision to cut staff, which is expected to come into effect on 1 January 2025. It said the cut of the teaching posts will have far-reaching consequences for the Western Cape and will affect community development and economic growth, over and above the teaching sector.
Cape Forum said if things continued at this rate, 36 000 teachers would be at risk. The organisation maintained that a federal approach would have mitigated the drastic decision. Cape Forum’s Bernard Pieters said education will bear the brunt of this call.
“Larger classes and less individual attention are going to be learners’ fate in less affluent schools in particular. This, even though the WCED indicated in its 2024/2025 Performance Plan that the demand for education in the province is increasing to such an extent that a minimum of 1,440 additional classrooms are required to meet the need,” Pieters said.
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According to EWN, the University of Stellenbosch’s education expert, Professor Mbulu Madiba, said the move would have an impact on teaching as a future career.
Madiba said teaching was also a profession under threat, as many are looking to work abroad to teach.
“This thing is going to have another impact in terms of those few teachers that are going to remain in the system. They are overloaded, and think of mental health, the repercussions of that to the families, to the families and so on. So it’s a vicious circle, it’s a vicious circle,” he said.
Madiba has called on the National Treasury and the Minister of Basic Education to find solutions to ensure the quality of education at the country’s schools isn’t compromised.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
