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THE provincial education department in KwaZulu-Natal has revealed that the number of unqualified teachers in classrooms has increased from 215 to 2,810 by May 2022.
This is according to parliamentary questions to the department.
The department revealed that in February 2020 it had only 215 unqualified teachers, a more than tenfold increase to 2810 by May 2022.
KZN Education’s response also revealed that the areas most affected in terms of unqualified teachers are:
• Zululand has 357 unqualified educators
• King Cetshwayo with 325
• UThukela 281
• Umgungundlovu 270 and;
• Pinetown 267.
The department said it was providing bursaries to the teachers to get their qualifications within the next five years.
If the qualification was not obtained within this period, the teachers would be replaced with qualified teachers.
According to KZN’s Democratic Alliance (DA), Education MEC, Kwazi Mshengu, in his February 2020 parliamentary reply, all unqualified teachers have been given 30 days notice from March 1 and will be reinstated by qualified teachers replaced by educators.
The DA said said grades still mattered as part of the overall educational process, and one of the biggest problems at the foundation stage was the inability to read meaningfully and a lack of fundamentals when it came to subjects such as maths.
“While these are not taught in grade R, this year forms the basis for developing cognitive skills for the following school year.”
The DA also questioned why unqualified R-rated teachers were hired when there was no shortage of qualified teachers at home.
“It is incomprehensible that the DOE chooses to keep ineligible individuals on its payroll while qualified teachers struggle with unemployment after years of study and debt,” the DA said.
INSIDE EDUCATION