Over 50 people attended a meeting in Salt River on Saturday to mobilise against pending teacher cuts. Photo: Matthew Hirsch
This post was originally published on GroundUp
By Matthew Hirsch and GroundUp Staff – IN SUMMARY: A meeting was held at Community House in Salt River, where concerned parents, learners, teachers, and union members discussed planned retrenchments of 2,407 teachers in the Western Cape.
Organisers described themselves as “anti-capitalist, pro-working class group of independent activists.”
Abeedah Adams: “About 100,000 learners would be affected. We are looking at a situation where already overburdened teachers will have to take on even more work. [The budget cuts] are not limited to education; it’s all the services that we need to access.”
Yonela Zembe, learner from Khayelitsha: “Without a teacher, there is no learner… Please be with us in [this] fight.”
Daphne Erosi, parent organiser from Equal Education: “Learners cannot be in class without teachers… We need to hold hands and fight this together.”
Aliya Chikte, of the Alternative Information and Development Centre: Blamed austerity policies. “It’s been a problem in South Africa for a long time… We all know that teachers are already underpaid in this country.”
Clement Meyers, teacher from Athlone High School: “This is a bread and butter issue. If we want to move forward, we have to mobilise the teachers… You have to organise school communities.”
Sibongile Kwazi, SADTU provincial secretary: Called for redirecting funds to avoid teacher losses and said the union would organise a meeting next week.
Several speakers noted that rural schools would be hit hardest by the budget cuts.
The organisers proposed forums for organising teachers, learners, and union members, and called for mobilisation ahead of the medium-term budget in late October.
Western Cape MEC for Education David Maynier: Urged teachers and unions to “fight alongside us, rather than against us.” He highlighted a R3.8-billion budget shortfall and noted that even cutting all suggested programs wouldn’t be enough to cover it.
The provincial education department has already cut R2.5-billion from non-personnel budgets.
National Minister of Basic Education Siviwe Gwarube: Released a statement confirming that budget cuts affect all provinces. She met with provincial MECs and plans to meet with the Minister of Finance to find a solution, blaming “years of poor policy choices” for the fiscal challenges.
