The DA in Limpopo will submit written questions to Education MEC, Mavhungu Lerule-Ramakhanya regarding the nonpayment of teacher assistants in the province and comprehensive information pertaining to the teacher assistant programme.
This comes as the DA in the province has been inundated by complaints by teacher assistants, largely in the Giyani area, who claim that they have not been paid their salary for the previous month. Teacher assistants play a vital role in supporting teaching and learning and it is important that the department supports them in their work.
The province has over 10 000 teacher assistants and it is not clear how many of them in the province have gone unpaid or the reasons for this nonpayment of salaries.
The nonpayment of these teacher assistants is unacceptable and betrays the spirit of an initiative that is meant to create job opportunities for youth that have an interest in education.
We call on MEC Lerule-Ramakhanya to urgently investigate this matter and ensure that all teacher assistants that have not been paid have their issues resolved and that measures are put in place to avoid a recurrence. The department has a responsibility to fulfil its obligations such as paying its teacher assistants salaries.
The DA values the role and efforts of teacher assistants in supporting teaching and assisting to create a conducive learning environment and we will continue to monitor the progress with regard to this issue until it is resolved.