The Eastern Cape Education Department says Vacancies exist in its Department
The Eastern Cape Education Department is grappling to fill thousands of teacher vacancies. The department has confirmed that more than 2 000 posts need to be filled after many of its staff members left this past year.
Following the departure of several educators last year, the Eastern Cape’s Education Department has acknowledged that more than 2 000 positions must be filled. These vacant positions include principals, heads of departments, and teachers.
Some of the educators vacated their posts after having reached their pension age, while others decided to take early retirement. In addition to this, the provincial education department also lost close to 1000 educators due to Covid-19 related complications.
The DA’s shadow MEC for Education, Yusuf Cassim said that the current situation indicates a lack of good leadership on the part of the provincial department as the province has a large number of unemployed graduates within the sector.
Teacher’s union SADTU also express its disappointment with the department, as its provincial secretary, Chris Mdingi stated that this has been a long-standing issue that is yet to be addressed despite their efforts in convincing the department to do so.
We’ve been patient with our department but now feel that we have been too understanding in terms of them filling those vacancies. So we have engaged in a bilateral and we presented our case that we will soon get weary of waiting.
In response, the provincial department’s spokesperson, Vuyiseka Mboxela said that they are currently in the process of filling the vacant posts. She said that the total amount of advertised vacancies that have so far been filled between 3 July and 13 August 2021 amounts to 903, adding that these were posts for teachers who qualify to be principals and HODs.
She further stated that they, along with other stakeholders in the sector, are currently attending to the last portion of the 1448 vacant posts, which are primarily focused on recruiting teachers. The department also pointed out that the closure of non-viable schools in the province will help in addressing the shortage.
