Durban — The Department of Education in KwaZulu-Natal is expected to hold the National Teachers’ Awards Ceremony to acknowledge outstanding teachers at Northlands Primary School on Friday.
This forms part of World Teachers’ Day under the theme “The transformation of education begins with teachers” which was celebrated across the globe on Wednesday. The day has been celebrated for the past 28 years.
According to the department, KZN is the largest education employer in the country, with more than 100 000 teachers and support staff.
MEC for Education in KwaZulu-Natal, Mbali Frazer, said the department was proud of teachers that went the extra mile moulding pupils to become responsible adults and citizens of the world.
Frazer applauded teachers who are currently tutoring matric pupils at Spring Boot Camps across the province while it is the school holidays.
“This is the ultimate sacrifice made by our teachers; forgoing their spring holidays to support our matric candidates. Therefore, we like to honour and acknowledge the hard work and the loyalty of our teachers.
National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa spokesperson Thirona Moodley said while celebrating the role of teachers in society, it should be noted that teachers were not fully appreciated.
Moodley said that the public service has not had an increase in salaries in the last year and there were no signs of an increase this year.
“This really [affects] the morale of educators. It makes them feel unappreciated and that the employer is not looking out for their best interest while they deserve it. We have Grade R teachers who earn a stipend and the department is not doing anything to make the teachers’ lives easier.
Moodley further stated that the Department of Education had done very little to improve their conditions of service, thus exposing the teachers to danger.
“The failure of the department to protect the teachers in their workplaces has resulted in them being victims of violence by outsiders, other educators and pupils for doing their job. We have seen a number of attacks on our teachers and nothing is being done to protect them.”
Meanwhile, MEC Frazer, as the UThukela OSS District Champion hosted World Teachers' Day celebrations with Uthukela District officials and educators from Wembezi High School and Bhekude Secondary School on Wednesday and shared a message of gratitude for the ambition and dedication to duty of the country’s educators.
She also conducted a visit to health institutions in the district.
In another event in Johannesburg, Adopt-a-School Foundation (AASF), celebrated the day under the theme “Teachers at the heart of education recovery”, highlighting the challenges faced by schools and teachers.
AASF is a partner entity of the Cyril Ramaphosa Foundation, established in 2002. Since then, it has invested more than R1.2 billion in over a million learners across the 631 primary and high schools it supports.
Daily News
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