More than 40 percent of the Western Cape’s permanent teachers and principals will reach retirement age in the next 15 years.
|||Cape Town - More than 41 percent of permanent teachers and principals in the Western Cape will reach retirement age in the next 15 years.
The Western Cape Education Department’s chief director for human resources, Ivan Carolus, presented statistics to the provincial legislature on Tuesday that showed that almost half of permanent teachers, heads of department, principals and their deputies were 50 or older. This translates into 11 666 employees out of 28 345.
More than 80 percent, or 9 530, of this group are teachers who are in the classroom. Education standing committee chairwoman Cathy Labuschagne said this was a big concern.
DA MPL Mark Wiley asked if the large number of older teachers was a threat to the education system in the province as there were only 288 permanent teachers under the age of 24. Over the next four years, 1 640 teachers would reach retirement age and 105 permanent teachers were already older than 65 even though the retirement age is 65.
Carolus said the department was monitoring the situation closely.
“We believe we have a sufficient number of graduates to address the teachers who retire or fill vacancies,” he said. Currently the department employed 31 628 teachers, of whom 2 942 were on contract.
He said they would advertise four vacancy lists this year to appoint teachers where schools needed them.
Education MEC Donald Grant said there were enough graduate teachers who were leaving four local universities. “Each year 800 students graduate and we can’t place most of them,” he said. Some of the graduates left the province.
cobus.coetzee@inl.co.za
Cape Times