KwaZulu-Natal Education MEC Kwazi Mshengu during his 2021/2022 budget vote instructed the department officials to look at possible ways of improving salaries of Grade R teachers. Picture: Bongani Mbatha /African News Agency (ANA)
DURBAN - KwaZulu-Natal Grade R teachers are among the lowest paid in the country, but the good news is, according to the Education Department MEC Kwazi Mshengu, this may soon be the thing of the past.
Speaking during the provincial budget vote at the KZN Legislature on Thursday, Mshengu said he has directed the Head of Department and Chief Financial Officer of the department to look into possible ways, within its constrained budget, to gradually improve the salaries of those who are suitably qualified.
Mshengu said the plight of Grade R practitioners remained among the top priorities of the department.
“We need suitably qualified Grade R practitioners and who are paid according to the work performed and the qualifications they possess.The improvement we envisioned for at the foundation phase means that there will be no place for Grade R practitioners who hold no qualifications,” said Mshengu.
“We also developed and launched the KZN Reading Strategy which, among other things, aims to address the mischief of inability to read with meaning by 78 % of learners at Grade 4 as found in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study,” said Mshengu.
The South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) this week revealed that some Grade R practitioners had not received their stipends in April because there were education officials that were sleeping on the job.
Sadtu provincial secretary Nomarashiya Caluza during a press conference this week said what Grade R practitioners were being paid were not salaries, but stipends.
She said the issue was that because of the nature of their employment, the Grade R practitioners have their contracts terminated at the end of the financial year, which is the end of March.
Caluza said another issue affecting Grade R practitioners is the non-recognition of the qualifications especially with the B ED (Senior Phase and Further Education and Training Teaching).
She said the union was currently engaging on the possibility of having a special dispensation to prioritise Grade R practitioners and substitute educators who have served for more than three months.
sne.masuku@inl.co.za
Daily News
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