GDE ‘not retrenching teachers in 2018’

The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) has denied suggestions made by some school principals that teachers will be losing jobs in 2018.

According to the GDE, any redistribution of teacher posts at schools will be based purely on learner numbers at each school.

The department said it conducts an annual audit to ensure that schools whose learner populations shrink or grow still have a fair amount of teachers.

“In simple terms, schools that experience learner reduction will be affected by redistribution of teacher posts, and those schools that have grown will gain posts from redistribution,” Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi said in a statement this week.

“Instead of retrenching, as purported by some principals in an article in the Rapport of Sunday 09 December 2017, teachers will be redeployed in line with departmental redeployment policy, which was also consulted on and ratified by labour parties which are members to the Educator Labour Relations Council (ELRC).

“Furthermore, the department approved 500 posts to address learner growth in the 2018 academic year.”

Lesufi said it was “sad” that trade union Solidarity was demanding that the department stick to the original teacher allocations irrespective of changes in learner numbers at different schools.

He said the following teacher post allocation process had been undertaken and endorsed by all the relevant education stakeholders:

• Consultation with unions on the proposed post establishment for schools had deadlocked at the Provincial Educator Labour Relations Council (PELRC).

• The GDE approved and distributed post establishments to schools on October 12.

• Unions rejected the approved post establishments and urged schools not to accept them.

• A special chamber held on November 10 resolved that post establishments should be revised and all schools be informed of the same.

• An agreement was reached by all parties to retain the 2017 total post number for the 2018 academic year.

• The revised post establishment was tabled by the GDE at the PELRC on November 17 and was ratified.

• Final revised post establishment letters were issued to 30 schools on November 30.

According to Lesufi, the appeal process was shared with schools, after which the department received more than 100 appeals. Each school that appealed was responded to through the department’s district offices on December 8.

“It is disingenuous for some principals to claim that they didn’t receive feedback from the department,” Lesufi said. “We are actually baffled that they resorted to communicate with us through Solidarity and the media when the department has afforded them channels to address their appeals.

“Solidarity claims that about 1 800 posts in total could be lost. We can’t comprehend this malicious stance portrayed in the mentioned statement. It is disappointing for them to fabricate in this manner.”