DA raises concerns over vacant teaching positions in Limpopo

Sekhukhune

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Limpopo said they are concerned of thousands of vacant teaching posts in the province, which they say deprive learners of quality education and results in schools being overcrowded and understaffed.

The party raised the concern after Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, revealed in a reply to the DA’s written questions in the National Assembly that the province currently has 4933 vacant teacher posts.

Lindy Wilson, DA Leader in Limpopo Province, said the party has written to Limpopo Department of Education (LDoE) MEC, Mavhungu Lerule-Ramakhanya, requesting her to establish why there is such a large number of teaching vacancies in the province and when these will be filled.

“The failure of Limpopo’s Department of Education to fill vacant teaching posts weakens our entire education system and negatively impacts learner’s opportunities to excel academically and significantly reduces their prospects for tertiary education and employment. Limpopo already has an expanded unemployment rate of 46,7%,” she said.

Wilson indicated that Lerule-Ramakhanya needs to prioritise addressing the large number of vacant posts and she must indicate the challenges that have caused the large number of vacancies and what is currently being done to urgently fill these posts.

“The DA will continue to monitor the progress in the province with regard to this issue. The DA has a plan to rescue learners from a failing education system,” she said.

However, MEC Lerule-Ramakhanya dismissed the DA claims saying they are baseless, stating s

“It is important to restate what is contained in the response of the minister before responding directly to misconceptions and to an extent misinformation peddled by DA on this subject. The Minister stated that there are 31,462 teacher vacancies in the country, meaning in all Provincial Education Departments (PEDs). This information was sourced from PERSAL, personnel salary management information system of government, at the time the response of the minister was crafted,” she said.

Lerule-Ramakhanya indicated that PERSAL recognize vacancies as posts not occupied and posts not permanently filled and in this regard it means so long as the post is not having a permanent incumbent, that post will be classified by the system as vacant, even if there is a temporary appointment against it.

“The temporary appointment is not in the post but against the post because the temporary post is coded differently from the permanent post. The most critical part of the minister’s response, which the DA conveniently ignored, is that the filling of vacant posts is ongoing to ensure that there is no class without a teacher for all grades. For post level one vacancies, schools are allowed to recruit at a local level and immediately as the vacancy occurs and make temporary appointments,” she said.

MEC Lerule-Ramakhanhya insisted that Minister Motshekga stated clearly that in order to address immediate workload challenges that result from vacant promotional posts, schools are allowed to appoint temporary educators against a vacant promotion post until the vacant promotion post is filled.

“The statement confirms that all PEDs, Limpopo included, do not have a situation where learners are not taught as results of posts not permanently filled. I therefore dismiss the ill-informed statement by DA. There is therefore no deprivation of quality education to learners in Limpopo as DA claims,” she said.

Lerule-Ramakhanya reiterated that LDoE does not have a situation where learners are without teachers due the PERSAL recorded vacancies.

“Schools’ Governing Bodies, supported by our able Districts Directors and Circuit Managers ensure that there is a teacher in front of all the learners at all material times,” she said.

The MEC said in 2024/2025 financial year, her department will advertise 2550 school management team promotion posts to permanently fill these positions, which are currently occupied by temporary educators.

“The advertisement will be published in the coming week. I can assure the province that the department cares for and provide the necessary resources to all the schools. The most critical resourcing of them being provisioning of educators, an exercise she meticulously attends to in terms of the Post Provisioning Norms prescripts,” concluded Lerule-Ramakhanya.