Following an unexpected termination of all temporary teachers’ contracts by the Eastern Cape Education Department two months ago, the National Education Minister Angie Motshekga declared the move as far from reality.
Speaking in Butterworth on Friday, Minister Motshekga deemed the termination of temporary teacher contracts as nothing short of “immoral” decision.
“The termination of temporary teachers’ contracts is like running a shop without the shopkeeper and that is completely immoral,” she said.
As for the bungled station delivery to schools on time by the provincial education, Motshekga compared the action to a “spaza with no stock to sell”.
“The shortage is like going to a spaza shop with neither a shop-keeper nor stock to sell, and this is not a unique problem to the Eastern Cape except for the fact that the province has allowed it to go on to a state of being uncontrollable,” she said.
Motshekga went on to say that the current turn of events within the provincial education sector have not been unexpected.
“An alarm into this maladministrative state at which the Eastern Cape provincial education is currently facing was set off years ago and with the way things stand, it has finally caught up with us,”she said.
Amongst the main challenges facing the department has been the issue of what is termed as “double parked educators”, some of which were either under qualified or misplaced which are amongst the problems that have contributed to the department getting a disclaimer from the auditor general.
Due to financial constraints, the Eastern Cape Department of Education (ECDoE) recently terminated the jobs of 6 500 temporary teachers in its attempt to recover some of its funds.
However, following, a court appeal by the teacher unions, the department was instructed to reinstate all the teachers with full pay, but Motshekga promised to reinstate only 2 000 teachers.
“By Monday, 6 March 2010, at least 2 000 teachers will be back at work” she said and added that a circular stating the decision would be issued on the same day.
As the national department takes over the administration of the department, Minister Motshekga allayed doubts over the role that will be assumed by the provincial department’s leadership.
She said a close relationship with the department heads will be established “to protect the integrity of education through a national office’s instructions on what has to go on.
Amongst the changes brought by the national education office, has been the removal of the scholar transport programme from the Eastern Cape Education Department to Department of Transport.
A decision Motshekga said would afford the provincial education department room “to focus on its core business of teaching and learning”.
“We can’t afford to deny our young people their right to better education”- she said.
Source: Eastern Cape Education
