Hundreds of vacant posts at schools in Gauteng an indication that the province’s education system is dysfunctional
At the end of September this year, there was a total of 580 vacant teaching posts, all on management level, at schools in Gauteng. This clearly goes to show that the education system in the province is dysfunctional, says adv Anton Alberts, chairperson of the FF Plus.
From the response to a written parliamentary question that adv Alberts addressed to the Minister of Basic Education, it can be gleaned that there are 62 vacant Principal posts, 109 vacant Deputy Principal posts and 409 vacant Head of Department posts. (Please see the full question and answer below).
The Minister was unable to explain why the posts are not being filled. She was also unable to answer the questions pertaining to the number of schools in Gauteng, the number of schools that are not in use, or the number of schools that must be built to accommodate the growing number of learners in the province.
She also did not provide an answer to the question of why Afrikaans schools are being put under pressure to become English, she only said that she is waiting for information from the Gauteng Department of Education.
Adv Alberts says it is a shame and that the MEC for Education in the province, Panyaza Lesufi, is probably deliberately permitting the situation where the vacant posts are not being filled and the money, that the Department received to build new schools, is not being used.