KZN DoE fills critical teacher posts, but challenges remain

DESPITE the recent appointment of over 1 500 teachers in KwaZulu-Natal, unions have highlighted that the ongoing shortages and budget constraints that threatened the education sector, had left many qualified teachers unemployed.

- YOSHINI PERUMAL

Last week, the MEC for Education in KZN, Sipho Hlomuka, announced that the Department of Education (DoE) had filled critical vacancies in maths, maths literacy, physical and life sciences, and technical subjects.

Hlomuka said 1 530 post level 1 critical teacher posts had been filled between January and April 2025.

"These posts had become vacant as a result of attrition, retirement, promotions and resignations. Most of these posts became vacant in critical subjects like maths, maths literacy, physical sciences, life sciences, technical subjects and other new subjects.

“The filling of these posts aimed at ensuring that there are no classes without a teacher.

“This is a significant milestone for the department, as it would enable us to improve the teacher-to-learner ratio, enhance teaching and learning, and ultimately improve pupil outcomes,” Hlomuka added.

However, teacher unions have argued that there were still “too big of a gap” in the number of teacher posts filled, compared to the number of unemployed teachers in the province.