Instead of trying to undo the signing of the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill (Bela Bill) into law, Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube must surely be preoccupied with finding a solution to a looming crisis that threatens the future of thousands of children.
More than 2 400 teacher posts only in the Western Cape are under threat of not being renewed when the contracts expire at the end of the year.
This means there will be fewer teachers for already overcrowded classes when our children return to school in the new year.
The consequences of cutting teacher posts because there is not enough money to fund these vacancies will be dire, especially for a public education system that has long been saddled with a mountain of challenges.
The Western Cape is not the only province to be confronted with this dilemma, but perhaps finds itself in a more precarious position because of the increasing number of children from other provinces being enrolled in its schools. Nothing wrong with that all of our children deserve the best education that they can receive.
