The Northern Cape Department of Education said that in order to ensure that every classroom has a teacher, it has filled a number of teaching posts, including Grade R practitioner positions, and has also created hundreds of teacher assistant positions.
THE NORTHERN Cape Department of Education said that in order to ensure that every classroom has a teacher, it has filled a number of teaching posts, including Grade R practitioner positions, and has also created hundreds of teacher assistant positions.
This was announced by the MEC for Education, Zolile Monakali, during the tabling of his 2023/24 Budget Vote at the Northern Cape Legislature in Kimberley on Tuesday.
Monakali said more than 250 educator posts were filled after the department received applications from schools requesting additional teachers.
“In 2022, the department received 289 applications for more educators from schools. After conducting the necessary due diligence with the district authority, 252 posts were ultimately allocated. The department then made an additional 37 postings available to accommodate ad-hoc requests. This implies that 289 classrooms received an educator.
“As opposed to prior years when the posts were only assigned in March/April, all new educator posts were provided to the district offices in January 2023.”
Monakali said the department also ensured that it had sufficient early childhood development (ECD) practitioners after the functions of ECD training were handed from the Department of Social Development to the Department of Basic Education.
“The transition of the ECD functions to the Department of Basic Education was no child’s play. In response to the challenges that confronted the sector, a total of 721 ECD practitioners have been appointed.
“The department has decided to appoint practitioners for a three-year term, from January 2022 until December 2024, in order to ensure consistency in teaching and learning. The stipend for practitioners was also raised from R8 000 to R8 500 for Level 4 and 5 practitioners, and from R11 000 to R13 000 for qualified (REQV13) practitioners.”
Monakali said thousands of work opportunities were also created at schools through the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative (PYEI).
“A total of 6 177 education assistants and general school assistants were appointed during Phase 3, which ran from April 1, 2022 until September 30, 2022. We are now in Phase 4, which commenced on February 1 and will run until the end of September 2023. To date, the department has placed 6 108 education and general school assistants, between the ages of 18 and 35 years old, at 551 schools across the Province.”
