Qualified teachers take a stand for jobs

EMOTIONS ran high among 250 qualified but unemployed teachers who gathered at Qobolwayo Hall in Empangeni last Wednesday.

Ahead of a planned meeting with KZN Dept of Education District Director David Chonco, the teachers shared their frustrations about their search for jobs in the province.

Many of them raised allegations of corruption within the department, which includes the selling of posts, while others voiced anger about the number of unqualified teachers in the system.

One IsiZulu and history teacher, who did not want to be named, was close to tears when she shared her struggle in finding a job. ‘I have visited the local education district and circuit offices a number of times and even traveled to Johannesburg seeking employment but most of the time I am told there are no posts or they looking for maths and science teachers or my qualification isn’t good enough.

‘I have to take care of my siblings at home, one of whom is disabled and it’s very difficult when you can’t provide for them financially,’ she said.

Another teacher Mlungisi Gumbi, who holds a Maths, Natural Sciences and Technology qualification from the University of Zululand, says he has been searching for a job for over three years.

‘I have searched the whole of KZN. There’s no circuit or district that does not have my CV. I have even tried to see the Minister of Education.’Instead, like most teachers here, I am asked to go to other provinces to look there.’ He said with the number of unqualified educators in the province and reports of over-crowding in some classrooms, ‘it is difficult to understand how there are still so many teachers with qualifications, sitting without jobs. There seems to be unfairness and favouritism in the system’.

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Their grievances come in light of a recent revelation by the National Department of Education that more than 1 100 unqualified and under-qualified teachers in the Zululand, uMkhanyakude and King Cetshwayo districts.Out of 2 875 teachers lacking the necessary qualifications in KZN, the three local districts recorded a combined total of 1 179.King Cetshwayo District Education Director David Chonco confirmed that a meeting with the unemployed teachers took place last week.

‘We have asked them to provide us with their personal details which includes their qualifications so we can see where they can be placed and where there are vacancies we can look at placing them,’ Chonco said.

Addressing allegations of corruption within the department, Chonco urged teachers with evidence to come forward so this can be investigated.

He said one case that the department is aware of, which is currently being investigated by the police, is that of a person who has been posing as a representative of the department and allegedly scamming teachers into paying for jobs.

‘This person is not from the department and has been using different names, requesting people to pay him in order to secure a job.’We do not ask people to pay for jobs in the sector and no one should pay to secure a teaching job,’ Chonco said.

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