The GOOD Party has welcomed an agreement to hold an urgent debate in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament regarding the 2,407 imminent job cutbacks for teachers.
GOOD’s Secretary-General and Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament, Brett Herron, stated that the party sought the scheduled debate on September 12.
“The government’s notification to school principals and governing bodies of anticipated job cuts has sparked considerable concern over the decision’s impact on teachers’ right to job security, as well as all South Africans’ right to a quality education system.
“Unsurprisingly, this regressive step will have a disproportionate impact on school communities in less affluent areas, which will bear the brunt of the teacher losses as their parent bodies won’t be able to afford the costs to replace them,” Herron told reporters.
The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) announced employment layoffs due to budget limitations.
This has sparked outrage not only in the education sector, but also among various organizations and individuals, as it is projected to have a spillover effect on other sectors.
The employment reduction will take effect January 1, 2025.
“We cannot sit back and let decisions go uncontested, which will definitely exacerbate the Western Cape’s existing terrible inequality. There are remedies to the province’s created funding crisis, which merely need better fiscal decisions.
“Billions of Rands have been assigned to non-core functions over the next three years, including innovation and safety, while a relatively small portion of this money could ensure no teachers’ jobs need be lost,” Herron told the media.
It is the Western Cape Provincial Parliament’s responsibility, as a legislative representing the people of the Western Cape, to hold the government accountable for its actions, he continued.
