South Africa’s teachers feel the pain

Budget cuts have put a strain on the education system in South Africa, with fewer teachers being hired and promoted as a result, compromising the country’s quality of education. 

Recently, the Eastern Cape Department of Education raised concerns about how budget cuts are affecting teachers. 

For example, the department stated that it has to delay teacher promotions because it cannot afford to pay the full salaries for those positions.

Several other provincial education departments have also reported that national budget cuts forced them to reduce the number of teachers they can employ. 

National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa’s executive director, Basil Manuel, explained on Newzroom Afrika that this issue has been ongoing for years.

“This has been a saga over a number of years, we mustn’t pretend it is only for this particular budget.” he said.

Cuts have been made in the past and everyone had to sacrifice something, which has led to problems building up over time. “So this is the accumulation of those cuts that are having this impact.” 

Some provinces, like the Western Cape, have decided to reduce the number of teachers, while other provinces, like Gauteng, have retained their teachers but delayed filling promotion posts. 

“But something has to give somewhere along the line, and I suppose it is the better of the evils to postpone the appointment of promotion posts now for two or three months rather than reduce the number of staff.”

However, the bigger issue is that many programs, including national programs, cannot be implemented due to these budget cuts. “That’s where our problem lies as a union,” Manuel said.

The Gauteng Department of Education clarified that post-level one teaching positions will still be filled. 

For instance, if a Deputy Principal position is vacant, a post-level one teacher will temporarily act in that role. This means the overall number of teachers remains unchanged, but promotions – which come with salary increases – are being delayed.

“That is why we would like to see particularly principalships filled because it is in the management of schools where many many things can go wrong and do go wrong,” Manuel said.

The National Treasury claimed that education budgets have been restored, but provinces are not managing their spending effectively and might not be allocating the restored funds back to education as intended.

However, even if the budgets are allocated, the challenge is that the funds are part of the general Equitable Share allocation and are not specifically designated for education. This allows provinces to determine how to use the money, Manuel explained.

All provinces are reporting the same issue: insufficient funding. Provinces have had to make budget cuts across the board, which includes reducing how much they spend on education. 

Manuel noted that schools have prioritised hiring staff to maintain essential teaching positions, which means that district offices have been neglected.

“The schools need the support from district offices, so it doesn’t help us in the long run if the support structure for schools is being hollowed out,” he explained.

These cuts have also led to a decline in the quality of teaching. Coming out of the pandemic, many students have fallen behind.

However, there have not been enough resources allocated towards implementing a “catch-up” system to help learners get back on track, he said.  

“A teacher cannot do a full catchup and continue with the new work and with the same class size.”

The class sizes are particularly concerning as well, since they have been increasing for years.

Provinces have also not paid schools their norms and standards allocations, which cover essential costs like electricity and water.

As a result, schools are falling into debt, Manuel said. System improvements – like introducing new subjects such as coding and robotics – have also stalled due to the lack of funding for the necessary resources, which includes additional teachers. 

Long-discussed initiatives, such as the General Certificate of Educatio, still need to be implemented despite years of planning.

Special schools, which offer programs equivalent to matric, also face issues as their students are not being certificated. 

These programs, along with others, are stuck in the pilot stage because of insufficient funding for full implementation.

“So it is not just about the teachers. It’s about the quality of teaching and, of course, the quality of the entire system to move forward into the 21st century that is being held back at the moment,” Manuel said.

While the provinces have had to cut back on their education spending, other areas of government remain inflated and expensive. For example, Manuel criticised the government’s large cabinet. 

The concern, he said, is that some spending patterns in education departments and the government at large are not advancing the country’s educational priorities.

“We want to see ourselves moving out of the 20th century into the 21st to equip the very very people that will be running the country tomorrow with the necessary skills,” he said. 

“Our children leaving school must be more competitive they must be able to compete in this new world.”

“If we don’t do that from the outset as an education department we failed the country.”