By Ragheema Mclean
The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) and teachers’ unions have reached an agreement to convert eligible contract teachers to permanent staff if they meet the necessary qualifications.
The decision was formalized through discussions at the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) and the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) and the National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa).
Speaking on VOC’s Breakfast Show, Naptosa’s provincial head, Riedwaan Ahmed said the unions approached the ELRC after the WCED announced that it would not be renewing the contracts of 2,407 teachers in 2025 due to budget constraints stemming from a nationally negotiated wage agreement.
“After the news of the budget cuts that would be in effect in January 2025, we referred a dispute to the ELRC. The merit of the case was based on enforcing a collective agreement. This agreement, which was passed in 2018, states that when a teacher occupies a substantive vacant post for three months or more, they should be converted from temporary to permanent status.”
Listen to the full interview below:
VOC News
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