Durban — The DA in KwaZulu-Natal has called on Education MEC Kwazi Mshengu to rid his department of all unqualified teachers. This followed a 2020 commitment by Mshengu to get rid of all unqualified teachers.
The DA called him out on Sunday after discovering that despite the MEC’s promise, two years later the number of untrained teachers in the province’s classrooms has increased more than ten-fold.
The DA provided two written parliamentary replies from the MEC, from February 2020 and May this year, in response to questions about the number of unqualified teachers in the province.
A report showed that in February 2020 there were 215 unqualified teachers in KZN. However, in May the province had 2 810 unqualified teachers.
Areas with unqualified teachers include Zululand district, with 357, followed by King Cetshwayo with 325, uThukela District with 281, Umgungundlovu with 270, and Pinetown with 267.
DA KZN spokesperson on education Dr Imran Keeka said that while the department claimed unqualified teachers were only in Grade R, the DA’s worry was that the presence of unqualified teachers in the classrooms was threatening the futures of thousands of young people as Grade R is an important part of the overall education process because that is where everything is learnt, from reading and writing.
“The DA is worried that the biggest problems within the Foundation Phase are the inability to read and the lack of basics when it comes to subjects such as maths,” Keeka said.
KZN Education spokesperson Muzi Mahlambi said some of the Grade R teachers who were employed with matric only had been improving themselves and were now qualified and had even been absorbed in other grades.
“Others have been given time to improve themselves because our definition of a qualified educator is a three-year diploma and above. This is why the Grade R educators are called practitioners and earn a stipend, not a salary,” said Mahlambi.
Keeka said their question was why there were unqualified Grade R teachers being employed when there was no shortage of qualified teachers sitting at home.
“That the DoE has opted to keep unqualified individuals on its payroll while qualified teachers struggle with unemployment after years of study and debt, is beyond comprehension.
“The question now is – what should the DoE do with these unqualified teachers? A simple solution would be to utilise their experience and skills, either as teacher assistants or within the Early Childhood Development sector.”
Daily News