Your Money or Your Life – The Impossible Position of Teachers

Your Money or Your Life - The Impossible Position of Teachers

Credit: IRIS Connect

Teachers are now forced to choose between their safety and their jobs.

Teachers who do not report for work at schools during covid-19 will be put on no-work-no-pay, and then charged with misconduct which can lead to dismissal.

This is according to a letter from the Director-General in the Department of Basic Education, Mr. HM Mweli, sent to the Head of Education for Gauteng Province on 20 July.

Disciplinary Processes to be Followed

Mr. Mweli states in the letter that the “Council of Education Ministers (CEM) has resolved to take legal action against all individuals and groups that continue to disrupt schooling”.

I therefore urge you to implement the following disciplinary processes on each case:

 If a teacher refuses to report for duty after a non-approval of Concession for employees with a comorbidity, (ELRC Collective Agreement 1 of 2020) the following disciplinary process must be followed:

 The educator should be given written instruction to report for duty;

  • Leave without pay should be granted to the educator for his/her period at home;
  • If the teacher still refuses to report dorf duty, he/she should be charged with misconduct in terms of section 18 of the Employment of Educators Act. This process could lead to his/her dismissal; and
  • The formal instruction should be used as aggravation to the request the Presiding Officer (PO) for a harsher sanction that includes dismissal.

Western Cape calls for no disruption of schools

In a letter (on 18 July) to all Principals and Staff of Public Schools, Brian Schreuder, Head of Education in the Western Cape, are asking school principals to engage with him directly if they have any opinion that goes against implementing the decisions of Cabinet, or any decisions of the provincial government, to engage with him so they can discuss it in person.

I therefore call upon any principal that disrupts, or causes schooling to be disrupted, directly or indirectly, or influences or causes to influence any learner or learners to stay away from school to stop doing this immediately.”

Colleagues, I again want to express my warm appreciation for the more than 1500 principles who are working tirelessly to ensure the safety of learners and teachers in our schools.”

 

Author: Jan Badenhorst, CEO, Matric College
Date Published: 23 July 2020