Authorities are scrambling to save thousands of jobs for teachers in the basic education system following reports that budget cuts are threatening schooling in the country.
Several meetings of the Council of Education Ministers (CEM) as well as Heads of Education Departments Committee (HEDCOM) have been held in recent weeks with a single item on the agenda – to consider the impact of the fiscal constraints in basic education.
There has been widespread anxiety throughout the country after it emerged that provincial education departments would reduce the basket of teaching posts for year 2025 and possibly the years after that.
No teacher will be retrenched!
That is the promise made by Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube as the department readies itself to meet with Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana to find permanent financial solutions to the constraints faced by the education sector.
The basic education sector is grappling with the budget cuts that are affecting several government departments.
The Western Cape Education Department were the first to sound the bell on this matter, saying they would need to let go of over 2400 teachers as a result of the reduction in the funding allocation for compensation of employees.
However, Gwarube says the meeting with the Godongwana will be crucial to save teachers’ jobs and maintain the quality of education in all schools.
“I have requested a convening of a political meeting between the Minister of Finance and the provincial MECs for Finance, as well as myself, as the Minister of Education, and the nine MECs of Education. We must work together with all 10 treasuries to unlock additional funds to alleviate the pressures facing the education sector, even if it is for the short term, and to prevent further cuts to teaching posts and critical support services like school nutrition and transport” said Gwarube.
The Minister emphasised that education is an investment in the country’s future, adding that a well-educated population is the foundation of a prosperous, competitive, and innovative economy.
Gwarube says without education, the country’s high unemployment crisis cannot be addressed.
Educators’ jobs are on the line due to National Treasury’s budget cuts, a hindrance which threatens teaching and learning across the country.
Meanwhile the quality of both learning and teaching will be compromised by these budget cuts. If there are less teachers, the next challenge will be overcrowding in classrooms because the few that remain will be forced to teach large numbers of learners. This is a warning given by the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU).
SADTU is basing its concerns on the analysis that inadequate funding for the Department of Basic Education, will lead to a decline in interest to study teaching.
“The teaching profession is ageing. We need young teachers, but now fewer people will be interested in studying teaching because of the fear of not being employed,” said Nomusa Cembi, SADTU spokesperson said.
Well over R320 billion was allocated to the Basic Education sector for 2024/25 financial year, however, R2.8 billion in budget cuts, was later approved.
Some provincial education departments, like the Western Cape, announced that it may shed some 2400 teacher jobs across the province as it faces a shortfall of R 3.8 billion. Teachers in that province have even threatened to strike if measures are not taken to save their jobs.
“Education is a human right. We therefore urge the government to do away with austerity measures when they have a negative impact on citizens’ human rights” Cembi added.
National Professional Teachers’ Organization of South Africa (NAPTOSA) says though the Western Cape is the only province that has announced job shedding, other provinces are likely to follow.
“It’s starting off in the Western Cape, but KwaZulu-Natal is already there too, with a bigger problem because of the huge deficit,” NAPTOSA’s executive director Basil Manuel said.
“Our children are going to suffer. We don’t need bigger class sizes as pupils need all the attention they can get from teachers, especially those not doing well,” said Manuel.
These possible jobs cuts come as the country’s unemployment rate stands at 33.5%. Gwarube is expected to update stakeholders about the outcome of her engagements with her cabinet counterparts. While it is hope that the jobs could be saved it remains unknown as to where the funds would come from.