Unemployed teachers demand jobs
They marched against alleged nepotism within the Department of Education.
Unemployed teachers allege that some cough up R30 000 to be permanently employed as a teacher by the Department of Education.
The allegation was raised after over 100 unemployed teachers staged a sit-in in their graduation gowns outside the education department’s Port Shepstone office last week.
Some qualified teachers who have been unemployed for over eight years said it was time the department hired them.
Leading the march to the department’s offices, Nompumelelo Ndelu said they were tired of sitting at home, saying they were aware that classes were overcrowded.
She explained that she has been unemployed for eight years, saying that the department even created a database for unemployed teachers in that time, but she has never been employed.
“We ask ourselves what is it that we lack so much that makes us unemployable,” she said.
She added that they were marching against alleged nepotism within the department.
Ndelu said: “There are rumours that people are paying R30 000 to be permanently employed as teachers. What about us who come from humble beginnings, where will we get that R30 000 because we are breadwinners in our homes? Some of us are raising our siblings, we were the only hope after graduating that we would change our backgrounds.”
She added that it was time the department showed them sympathy and employed them.
Ndelu suggested that if the government can adjust classrooms, job opportunities will arise and teachers can be employed.
“We know that there are vacancies in schools. Teachers are complaining about the workload. If for example the ratio can be set to one to 40, then the department can be able to employ us. If the government can employ educational assistants that means the money to hire us is available, there is nothing wrong with an educational assistant helping a teacher but an unemployed teacher must be hired because we also need jobs,” she said.
These unemployed teachers marched to the Port Shepstone offices last Thursday to meet with the District Director, Mfundi Sibiya, but he was unavailable. A meeting was then set for Monday this week but was later moved to Wednesday.
However, the outcome of the meeting had not been received at the time of going to press.
The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education spokesperson, Muzi Mahlambi said: “We understand their plight but even if there are vacancies, there are processes and procedures that must be followed when making appointments.”
The Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, recently told Parliament that more than 30 000 posts are still vacant countrywide.
The top three provinces with massive vacant positions are KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and Limpopo.
Motshekga said filling vacant posts at schools is an ongoing process to ensure there is no class without a teacher for all the grades.
HAVE YOUR SAY
Like the South Coast Fever’s Facebook page
