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- The DA has challenged the Eastern Cape Education Department to fill 1 974 teaching posts at government schools.
- Of the vacant posts, 380 are principal positions.
- The department said the vacancies would be addressed by no later than 31 August.
A total of 380 schools in the Eastern Cape have no principals and 39 have no deputies.
The Eastern Cape Education Portfolio Committee has expressed outrage over this situation, which it said cripples teaching and learning.
The committee revealed this week that, in total, 1 974 teaching posts are vacant in the province.
The provincial education department runs just over 5 000 schools.
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Newly-sworn in DA MPL Horatio Hendricks, who serves in the Education Portfolio Committee, said his party had demanded the education department provide the committee with a detailed report on vacancies.
He said the report must include a breakdown of all vacant posts and an action plan on when those vacancies will be filled.
The department recently filled 100 intern teaching vacancies and advertised 379 office-based vacancies.
However, Hendricks said that was a drop in the ocean compared with the critical staff shortages the department is experiencing.
News24 is privy to provisional data provided to the portfolio committee, which states that 1 794 teaching posts are currently vacant.
They include posts for 380 principals, 39 deputy principals, 272 heads of department and 692 teachers, as well as top-sliced posts.
The vacancies do not include the 788 positions cut from the year's organogram.
According to Hendricks, the department has decreased the number of educators employed in the province from 53 605 in 2022/23 to 52 817 in 2023/24 due to financial constraints.
He said the vacancies were robbing pupils of their constitutional right to receive an education.
"Not only are learners drastically affected, but vacant posts also put extra pressure on schools and educators. The teachers on site are often forced to take on unmanageable workloads and teach subjects they are not qualified in," he added.
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Hendricks said parents should not have to close down schools, to the detriment of pupils' education, to get the ANC-led government to wake up to the realities that schools in the province face.
"The DA will continue to fight for all our schools to be fully staffed with qualified educators who will add value to our children's lives and empower them with the skills needed to seize the opportunities that the future brings," he added.
The Eastern Cape Education Department said the vacancies issue would be addressed no later than 31 August.
"The department has already commenced with the 2024 post provisioning norms processes, and it is hoped that the teacher posts basket will be declared no later than 31 August," said Education MEC Fundile Gade.
He defended the hiring of interns saying it was an attempt to strengthen and improve operations for effective service delivery, especially at district level. He said this was one example of the kind of decisions taken to ensure the realisation of quality teaching and learning in government schools.
