1 286 Teachers’ Contracts Set to Expire in December – Minister

There are currently 1 286 teaching contract posts set to expire this year, Minister of Public Service Mabulala Maseko has revealed.

He made the disclosure in a report tabled in the House of Assembly, responding to a motion moved by Mayiwane Member of Parliament (MP) Sicelo Dlamini.

Dlamini had asked the minister to explain why qualified contract teachers were placed on Grade B2, instead of being placed on Grade C3.

Permanent Posts and Conversions

Maseko explained that since the 2023/24 financial year to date, the Ministry of Education and Training had been authorised to recruit against 1 657 permanent teacher posts and 215 new positions.

He said 1 286 posts will expire this year, while 1 311 will lapse in 2026.

“This means that 1 857 temporary teachers have already been engaged on a permanent basis since the commencement of the conversion exercise in the 2023/24 financial year through the filling of vacant positions,” he said.

Budget Constraints

The minister further revealed that in the past two financial years, the Ministry of Finance approved a budget of E65 million, enabling the creation of 166 new posts. The rest of the budget, he said, was used to fill existing vacancies requested by the Ministry of Education and Training.

“In this current financial year, the Ministry of Education and Training made a request for new posts and the filling of vacant positions amounting to E311 676 942.00, which is far above the approved budget of E65 million,” Maseko said.

He added that the number of posts created was influenced by budget availability for personnel costs.

Grade B1 and B2 Posts

The minister clarified that the Grade B2 positions, together with Grade B1 positions, were initially created as a temporary solution to the acute shortage of teachers in the market.

• Grade B1 posts were occupied by candidates who had completed Form 5 and enrolled in tertiary institutions to pursue teaching qualifications.

• Grade B2 posts were filled by candidates with tertiary results.

Maseko said these candidates were later upgraded to permanent Grade C3 positions upon submission of academic certificates.

Saturation in the Teaching Profession

“Due to the saturation of the teaching fraternity compared with the number of permanent positions available in the Ministry of Education and Training, the process of converting contract teachers to permanent posts remains incomplete,” he explained.

He said the conversion of Grade B2 teachers to Grade C3 was agreed upon by the Public Budget Committee (PBC) to be conducted annually, depending on the budget allocation for personnel costs.

At the beginning of each financial year, the Ministry of Education and Training submits a request to the Ministry of Public Service for the filling, creation, and conversion of temporary posts to permanent positions.

Placement Challenges

Maseko added that the oversupply of teachers had also forced government to post qualified teachers in primary schools at Grade C3, even though they were meant for high schools.

“If these teachers were not converted to permanent and pensionable employment at primary schools, they would have remained unemployed due to their subject combinations and the lack of posts in high schools,” he said.