GOOD Party seeks urgent debate on proposed teacher cuts in Western Cape

The GOOD Party on Monday requested an urgent debate in the Western Cape legislature on the provincial government's decision to cut more than 2,400 teaching posts due to budget constraints.

Teachers’ unions have objected to the proposed cuts, while education MEC David Maynier warned the budget shortfall was critical and required “drastic action”.

GOOD Party secretary-general Brett Herron wrote to the speaker of the provincial legislature on Monday requesting a matter of “urgent public importance” be discussed in the house.

“The government’s notice to school principals and governing bodies of the proposed job cuts has led to widespread concern about the impact of this decision on the right of teachers to job security, and of all South Africans to a quality education system,” said Herron.  

“It is unfair to ask teachers to sacrifice their careers at the altar of a political fight that the Western Cape government is unnecessarily orchestrating.

“It is particularly unfair on school communities in less affluent areas, which will bear the brunt of the teacher losses as their parent bodies won’t be able to afford the costs to replace them. It is a regressive step that will further skew inequality,” he added.

Herron believed there were solutions to what he described as the province’s “engineered funding crisis” by making better budgetary choices.

“The province has assigned billions of rand to non-core functions over the next three years, including to innovation and safety. A relatively small portion of this money would ensure no teachers’ jobs need be lost,” he said.

The party is hoping the legislature debate will go ahead at the next sitting of the provincial government on September 12.

The head of parliament’s portfolio committee on basic education warned of a looming schooling catastrophe due to budget cuts forced on provincial education departments, reported the Sunday Times.

National government agreed to a 7.5% wage increase for teachers and other public servants for 2023/24, but did not increase provincial budgets accordingly.

Now provinces are scrambling to adjust by making billions of rand in cuts. Teaching posts, early childhood development programmes and scholar transport are among the items likely to be pruned, reported the Sunday Times. 

TimesLIVE