Durban – The South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) in KwaZulu-Natal says the province’s education sector is in a state of chaos because of the Department of Basic Education’s implementation of post provisioning norms (PPN).
The union says schools around the province are short of teachers and, in several instances, that they are short of teachers for critical subjects such as maths, science and accounting.
Speaking at a press conference in Durban on Thursday, the union’s provincial secretary, Nomarashiya Caluza, said the worst-affected schools were those in rural areas and townships where, for many children, getting an education is key to their breaking free from the cycle of poverty, and that at the root of the problem was the PPNs and the annual redistribution of teachers.
Every year, the Department of Basic Education allocates schools a certain number of teachers.
In schools where enrolment has decreased, teachers are declared “excess” and are supposed to be redeployed to schools where enrolment has increased.
But, said Caluza on Thursday, the PPN did not take into account that certain subjects required specialised teachers.
She explained that for example, at one school, the head of department (HOD) for science was declared “excess” in his capacity as an HOD, and redeployed.
But aside from being an HOD, he was also a maths teacher and the only maths teacher at the school, so his redeployment would have left the school without a maths teacher.
Caluza said the union intervened, and that the issue was resolved, but that this situation was far from isolated. “We are finding that some schools now have to close down some streams,” she said.
The union also said that the PPN meant that at small farm schools, there were not enough teachers for grades to be taught separately. So, for example, grades 8, 9 and 10 were all being taught together.
Caluza said the PPN had created chaos within the education sector. She said the lives of the teachers were also being disrupted, and that a total of 2 800 had been affected.
“We have one educator who was moved from Umkhanyakude to Umgungundlovu. She had to move into a flat in Pietermaritzburg and is struggling to find placement for her own child in school,” she said.
The union said it had had a meeting with the department, which had resulted in certain undertakings.
Education spokesperson Muzi Mahlambi on Thursday told The Mercury: “We had a meeting with the unions yesterday about the matter. The MEC (Mthandeni Dlungwana) was briefed about some of the issues that were discussed, and there are some measures that are being taken to address some of the issues moving forward.”
In the meantime, Sadtu has urged parents and teachers to support the union during upcoming pickets against PPNs.