April 23, 1995
The report in the Sunday Times today about proposals for the rationalisation of teachers posts purported to have been made by me is both misleading and inaccurate. It is unfortunate that the reporter concerned did not check her facts with me or my department.
Contrary to this report, the Government is committed to employing more teachers. It is also totally untrue that teachers will have to apply for their posts.
I am on record for clearly stating that teachers retrenchment is not the policy of the Government of National Unity. The teaching corps and the new education system do not need any further irresponsible statements of this nature. They only serve to create uncertainty, anxiety and confusion.
The Constitution clearly states that teachers should be employed by provincial education authorities. This has necessitated the rationalisation of the fourteen apartheid-based education departments into nine provincial departments.
An important part of this rationalisation process is the abolition of posts in the former departments and the simultaneous creation of an equivalent number of posts in the provinces. This is a logical and pragmatic administrative procedure.
The consequence of this will be the transfer of the occupants of former posts to the newly created provincially controlled posts. It stands to reason, therefore, that in this phase of the rationalisation process, not a single teacher will lose his or her job.
The second phase of this process will occur provincially, taking into consideration the needs and priorities of each province.
Each provincial education department will internally rationalise its organisation, posts and staff. If individual serving staff members are not absorbed in the rationalised posts, they will be held additional to the establishment for six months.
During this period, each staff member and his or her department should explore all possibilities to have him or her absorbed in a post elsewhere in the province or in another province.
Our objective will be to absorb everyone. Should the absorption not prove possible after six months, the staff member could be retired with the usual package applicable to such retirements.
The rationalisation process is a very delicate and sensitive matter that must be dealt with in an orderly fashion without disrupting the schooling system. We have consulted both NAPTOSA and SADTU on this matter, and further discussions are to take place in the Bargaining Committee of the Education Labour Relations Council.
I wish to urge all South Africans to deal with these sensitive matters in a responsible and professional manner in order to assist in the reconstruction of the education system of this country.
Attached is a document providing background information on the process of rationalisation.
Issued on behalf of the Minister of Education.
For further information please telephone Mr Lincoln Mali
021 45-7350 (office) 083 251-4044 (cell)