NAPTOSA laments loss of 2,407 teaching jobs in Western Cape

CAPE TOWN - The National Professional Teachers' Organisation of South Africa (NAPTOSA) said its lamenting the 2,407 teachers who have lost their jobs in the Western Cape. 

The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) cut the posts this week, citing a R3 billion budget cut from national government announced in August last year.

NAPTOSA said that the decision was particularly devastating for schools in impoverished and crime-ridden areas in the province.

Some of the areas worst affected, include Eerste River, where 53 teaching posts will be lost, Khayelitsha, which will lose 142 posts and Mitchells Plain, where 176 teachers will be without posts.

NAPTOSA executive director, Basil Manuel, said that the organisation had met with government officials to reverse the desision but to no avail.

"We have a basket of posts and that basket is being reduced by 2,400 in a province that is experiencing an increase in the number of learners. So, what that really means is with the loss of teachers, we must see class sizes increase."

A court matter to decide whether the department's decision to cut the posts was lawful will be heard early this year.