Indebted teachers resign to raid pensions

BY NCE MKHIZE

THOUSANDS of qualified teachers in the "prime of their careers" who are deeply in debt are opting to resign so they can cash in their pensions.

In terms of Department of Basic Education regulations, teachers who have taken early retirement are precluded from being rehired.

However, many find their way back onto the payroll due to the shortage of suitably qualified teachers.

Department spokeswoman Troy Martens said on Wednesday the problem was worrying. "Many of them resign from the profession so that they can access their pensions. As the department, we are doing something to reverse this.

"One of the measures is that the department is proposing retirement fund reforms to ensure better protection for all government employees, including teachers."

Ms Martens said the reforms were also aimed at preventing teachers from retiring early to access their pension funds.

South African Council of Educators spokesman Themba Ndlovu said the trend was acute in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, but recently more teachers had been resigning for financial reasons in the North West.

"We are very much aware that teachers in the prime of their careers are leaving," he said.

KwaZulu-Natal has 966 vacant senior teacher positions. Two years ago, 561 schools in the province had vacancies for maths teachers, 557 needed maths literacy teachers, and 508 needed science teachers.

The KwaZulu-Natal education department’s head of human resources, Nathi Ngcobo, said the high rate of teachers leaving before retirement age due to debt was alarming. "It is a big concern for us because these are experienced teachers who have been in the profession for anything between 10 and 20 years," he said. "The painful thing is that these teachers come back a few months later and they want to be re-employed by the department."

Mr Ngcobo said while it was easy for maths and science teachers to re-enter the system, the situation was different for others.

A directive had been given to prioritise the hiring of newly qualified teachers. "This is to discourage experienced teachers from resigning from their positions." Districts and regional offices in KwaZulu-Natal had been asked to wait 12 months after teachers had resigned before considering them for posts.

"We are also trying to improve the conditions of service as well as remuneration for our teachers so they can stay within the profession instead of seeking greener pastures elsewhere," Mr Ngcobo said.

Teachers’ unions are concerned that many teachers are leaving because of low salaries. South African Democratic Teachers Union spokeswoman Dolly Caluza said: "We don’t encourage teachers to resign because they end up worse than ever before. But we clearly understand their predicament."