Cape Town - Teachers and students hit Cape Town's streets after the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) announced plans to cut 2 400 teaching jobs, starting in January next year.
The decision came after the WCED revealed it only received 64% of the funding needed for a nationally negotiated wage agreement, leaving the province to cover the remaining 36%.
As a result, there is a budget shortfall of R3.8 billion over the next three years.
Almost two weeks after this news, teachers, students and teaching organisations staged pickets outside schools and at busy intersections.
Areas like Elsies River, Bishop Lavis, Khayelitsha, Hawston and Grabouw were filled with signs demanding the WCED halt its plans.
A peaceful protest organised by the Western Cape Education Crisis Committee took place outside the WCED offices in Cape Town yesterday.
One of the organisers, Abeedah Adams, said there was already a crisis, and cutting teaching positions would only worsen things.
“We're not asking the department to take from other areas, we're saying they need to rethink their budget and find the funds elsewhere,” Adams said.
“It's not just affecting the teachers and their livelihoods, but the student teachers and those studying education.”
The crisis committee urged schools to unite against the proposed cuts.
Lecturers, academic staff and students from UCT's School of Education also joined a picket along Main Road near the Faculty of Humanities.
Friday's protest, mainly led by postgraduate students about to enter the job market next year, highlighted the urgency of the situation.
The SA Democratic Teachers Union in the Western Cape criticised the cuts, saying they went against the WCED’s five-year strategy, which insists that every child deserves a quality education.
The union warned that these cuts would have severe repercussions for underfunded schools that were already overcrowded and unable to hire additional School Governing Body (SGB) staff.
For some teachers, it's a daily struggle filled with anxiety about where they'll end up in the new year, especially since other schools have reportedly let some staff members go.
A woman teacher pointed out that students in underfunded schools would not get the quality education they deserved because of overcrowded classrooms.
“It’s only going to get worse. Students already lack the motivation to stay in school, and this will just add to the problems in the community,” she said.
A Grade 11 student from Mitchells Plain High School told the Weekend Argus that cutting teaching posts would impact students significantly.
“Some of us have strong connections with our teachers. They’re not just educators but also act like parents when we’re away from home. Losing them feels like losing a family member,” the pupil said.
@weekendargus Students of UCT’s School of Education protest along Rondebosch Main Road against proposed teacher job cuts for next year. Video: Henk Kruger/Independent Newspapers #protest #teachers #WCED ♬ original sound - WeekendArgus
Basic Education MEC David Maynier acknowledged that teachers’ unions were considering striking.
In a statement, Maynier emphasised that striking would not change the fact that the national government was short-changing them.
“Even if we cut all the programmes suggested by the teachers’ unions, we would not come anywhere close to dealing with the massive R3.8 billion budget shortfall,” Maynier said.
If the WCED did not take serious steps to tackle this shortfall, it could jeopardise its ability to pay bills, including teachers' salaries.
“We hope that teachers’ unions will choose to fight alongside us rather than against us,” Maynier said.
Khalid Sayed, the ANC spokesperson for Education, slammed the budget cuts, calling them a direct hit on education in the Western Cape, particularly affecting disadvantaged communities.
“The consequences of this chronic underfunding are clear. Even six years ago, nearly half of our Grade 3 learners were in overcrowded classrooms with over 40 students.
“Today, some schools face classes of 50 or even 60 students. This is unacceptable and will now only get worse,” he said.
Brett Herron, the secretary-general of the GOOD Party, acknowledged that the National Treasury faced challenges and that budget cuts were necessary.
Herron, said the DA was trying to use teachers and basic education as a pawn in its battle with the national government over how much of the equitable share went to the province.
“It’s a cynical and appalling exploitation of those who teach our kids and puts the future of those students at risk,” Herron said.
More protests are anticipated at schools in Cape Town in the coming weeks.
Weekend Argus