Teacher unions have welcomed a recent announcement by basic education minister Angie Motshekga that schools will be able to employ education and general assistants after their contracts expired at the end of April.
But the unions were adamant that schools should not use education assistants as teachers because they don’t have a teaching qualification.
The duties of education assistants, among other things, include handing out workbooks, textbooks and worksheets to pupils, helping the teacher to photocopy question papers and managing pupil behaviour.
As part of the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative, more than 320,000 education and general assistants were placed in schools countrywide in December at a cost of R4.47bn.
Their contracts, which were due to finish at the end of March, were extended until the end of April.
But Gauteng and Limpopo continued to recruit education and general assistants even after the expiry of the national contract.
During a media briefing on August 29 Motshekga said the department had received a letter from the National Treasury confirming that money would be given for the hiring of education and general assistants.
“There’s an indication that we can even be given teacher assistants beyond a year because this year was disruptive. When we were just getting traction and momentum, we ran out of money because it was supposed to be a three months’ programme.”
Basic education department spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said a whole project plan had been put in place.
“Now that we have got the letter from Treasury, it’s going to be processed. Information will be made available at the right time once the minister has finalised the processes that will unfold.”
Basil Manuel, executive director of the National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of SA (Naptosa), said the schools “extracted great value from the assistants”.
“Some of them are unemployed graduates and they have been utilised in the classroom to reduce class sizes. They are not teaching and have to work under supervision in the classes assisting with reading.”
Said Manuel: “We certainly welcome it but we just lament the time of the payment by Treasury because we would much rather have it during the working year than at the end of the year.”
Ben Machipi, general secretary of the Professional Educators Union (PEU), said: “While they come at a time when schools have a shortage of teachers to comply with the dictates of Covid-19, we are just worried that some schools will convert them into fulltime teachers. This is not allowed by Sace [SA Council for Educators] as these are not qualified teachers.”
He said it was not a problem if the teacher assistants helped pupils with reading and writing skills but that they should be supervised by teachers.
Cynthia Barnes, general secretary of the National Teachers Union, also cautioned against the use of education assistants as fulltime teachers.
“We want to know the criteria they are using whether they are going to be employing educators or education assistants to assist teachers. Imagine your child being taught by an education assistant who is not qualified to teach.”
She said she was aware of many education assistants in some districts in KwaZulu-Natal who were roped in as fulltime teachers when the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative was launched in December.
Thomas Hlongwane, president of the SA Principals’ Association in Gauteng, also welcomed the renewal of the contracts for education and general assistants.
“But what will be a breakthrough in getting more pupils back is if the social distancing requirement was reduced to 0.5m.”
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