The camp of a group of unemployed teachers outside the headquarters of the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education in Pietermaritzburg has entered its second week, with the teachers vowing not to back down until they are placed in schools.
The teachers decided to camp outside the head office to pressure the authorities in the department to take their plight seriously and hire them.
Despite being there for almost two weeks now, the frustrated graduates have not been addressed by the MEC for the department, ANC’s Sipho Hlomuka, nor by the HoD (Head of Department), Nkosinathi Ngcobo.
They came to the offices with a memorandum with 10 demands to the department. Among the demands is that the department should scrap the requirement that those above the age of 35 should not be employed.
“Individuals who are unemployed and over the age of 35 are frequently excluded from educational intervention programs, which significantly restricts their employment opportunities. Therefore, we request for the Department to eliminate the age limit for all existing and forthcoming programs. We strongly encourage the consideration of qualified candidates over the age of 35 for participation in these initiatives.
“We request for an appropriate ratio of educators corresponding to the number of learners. It is impractical for a single teacher to manage four grades, each comprising three classes, especially when there exists a significant pool of unemployed educators. This evident shortage of teachers necessitates the urgent hiring of additional faculty members to improve the quality of teaching and learning within our schools,” reads part of the memorandum which was obtained by the African Times.
The spokesperson of the department, Muzi Mahlambi, said the decision by the unemployed teachers will not help them jump the queue when opportunities arise.
“Educators are employed on the needs based and this is happening as and when that need arises. Some of them who used to camp there last year were and have [been] employed as and when they meet requirements that match that (sic) of schools that have such vacancies. We however wish to indicate that their staying there will not assist them to jump the queue and it’s an untainable (sic) state of affairs to have qualified educators camping like that,” Mahlambi said.
Meanwhile, the South African Youth Council (SAYC) uMgungundlovu region on Monday (yesterday) met with the frustrated.
The council challenged the department to look into the issue of foreign nationals who have taken jobs that are not regarded as scarce skills in the country.
“These jobs are supposed to be given to South Africans as a priority, and only when there are limited expertise a foreign national may be considered. We call upon the provincial government to look into this matter, in order to ensure that these South African unemployed graduates are absorbed with a fair approach. Their memorandum gives details of the demands they have put forth, and we believe the caring government should listen to its people,” the council said in a statement after meeting with the unemployed teachers.
