A protest was held outside the Western Cape Education Department offices in Cape Town as similar actions took place around the province. Photo by Chris Gilili
BY Chris Gilili originally posted on Elitsha
- IN SUMMARY: Protest Against Teaching Post Cuts: Teachers, parents, unions, and civil society organizations protested against the Western Cape Education Department’s (WCED) plan to cut 2,407 teaching posts.
- Protests Locations: Protests occurred outside the WCED offices in Cape Town and other areas like Worcester, Grabouw, Hermanus, and Elsies River.
- WCED’s Statement: WCED announced that some teachers’ contracts expiring on December 31, 2024, will not be renewed due to budget constraints.
- Reason for Cuts: WCED claims they are receiving only 64% of the cost of the nationally negotiated wage agreement from the national government and must fund the remaining 36%.
- Impact on Poor Communities: Protest organizers argue that the cuts will primarily affect learners from poor, working-class communities, increasing class sizes and reducing job prospects for new teachers.
- Education Crisis Highlighted: Concerns were raised about existing issues such as overcrowding, safety, and psycho-social support in schools, which are exacerbated by the budget cuts.
- Teacher Solidarity: Teachers express solidarity with the protests, emphasizing the negative impact on students, especially in underprivileged areas.
- Criticism of WCED’s Priorities: Aliya Chikte from the AIDC criticized the WCED for spending less on education compared to other provinces.
- Union’s Opposition: Sadtu and other unions are against the cuts, arguing it undermines the rights of learners to quality education. They propose reallocating budget from other programs to save teaching jobs.
- Government Response: Education MEC David Maynier acknowledged the harm budget cuts will have on education, attributing the issue to the national government’s failure to fully fund the wage agreement.
- Parent’s Concerns: Parents, like Daphney Arosi, expressed concern that cutting teachers will exacerbate overcrowding and worsen the quality of education, especially for black learners.
WCED Statement:
- “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. We are in this position because we are being short-changed by the national government, receiving only 64% of the cost of the nationally negotiated wage agreement, leaving the province to fund the remaining 36%.”
Abeedah Adams:
- “It’s incorrect for the WCED official to say we are playing politics when we ask them, what communities will be most affected by the cutting of 2,407 posts. These teachers and their livelihoods will be affected by this. It’s really opportunistic for the department to say they are not retrenching teachers and are merely not renewing contracts. It’s not like those teachers on contracts are not needed. We in fact need more teachers.”
- “This will further disadvantage black and working-class children, in terms of their access to education, in a country that already battles with a literacy crisis.”
Mahfouz Raffee:
- “The budget cuts are devastating and are something we cannot afford. This issue of the cutting of posts is just the tip of the iceberg.”
Lindelwa Mahlangabeza:
- “I am in solidarity with the protests because the department has even removed those teachers who were already in the system. We want the government to consider how this will affect the lives of black kids mostly, with parents from poor working-class communities, who cannot afford to take their kids to fee-paying schools.”
Aliya Chikte:
- “We are concerned that the WCED is de-prioritising students and teachers in the allocation of the budget. What we see is that WCED spends less on education as compared to other provinces.”
Sibongile Kwazi:
- “There is a written agreement that if a teacher works in a vacant post for more than three months on contract and they are qualified for that post, they should be converted to permanent status. The WCED has a backlog of this conversion, it has not been happening.”
- “If they retrench teachers, then this means come 2025 we will have schools crowded with learners without teachers.”
- “We told them, we can re-direct this money to the basket of educator posts.”
David Maynier:
- “This is precisely why we are fighting hard for our teachers on the national level. The decision by the national government to not fully fund the 2023 multi-year wage agreement has caused a fiscal emergency in all provincial education departments.”
Daphney Arosi:
- “They do not take the education of black learners seriously. Cutting teachers will further harm their educational prospects.”
- “Schools here are already overcrowded, so how will a fewer number of teachers cope with huge numbers of learners?”
