The Western Cape school system is still reeling from the shocking news that more than 2 400 teachers will lose their jobs by January 2025, Cape {town} Etc reports.
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David Maynier, the Western Cape Education MEC, has stated that the province is facing budget cuts across all education areas.
The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) has provided a summary of occupations affected in each education district in the Western Cape, including the number of positions to be decreased.
Cape Town will lose 1 674 teaching positions, with 444 in the Metro South, 462 in the Metro North, 459 in the Metro East, and 309 in the Metro Central districts.
The department also revealed that the Cape Winelands will lose 299 jobs, while the Eden and Central Karoo areas will lose 200 jobs each.
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The Overberg and West Coast districts will both lose 117 jobs.
The WCED said that all Special Needs Schools were exempt from this process.
‘There are more schools in the metro areas, than in the rural areas,’ the department’s Bronagh Hammond told IOL.
‘The formula determining how the total number of teaching posts gets divided between schools is prescribed by the national government, and takes into account class sizes, the workload of teachers, the size of the school, language, curriculum, poverty, and other factors.’
‘The WCED will be working closely with schools to determine which teachers will be affected. We are not firing teachers, and we are not retrenching teachers.’
‘The reduction in posts will mean that some contract teachers will not be reappointed after their contracts end on December 31, 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,’ Maynier previously said.
He stated that the department is in this position because the national government only paid for 64% of the cost of the nationally negotiated wage agreement, leaving the province to cover the other 36%.
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‘Despite implementing a drastic R2.5 billion budget cut, including on administration, curriculum, and infrastructure, we still face a R3.8 billion budget shortfall over the next three years. We are in an impossible position, and it is not of our making, and the Western Cape is not the only province affected,’ Maynier said.
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Picture: Santi Vedrí / Unsplash