INLSA
Durban High School pupils, from left: Taariq Booley, Kaylan Odayar and Kreesan Pillay were very happy with their first matric exam paper. Picture: Marilyn Bernard
Some KwaZulu-Natal schools are scrambling to recruit and appoint principals, deputies and subject heads before the start of the next academic year.
Posts for senior jobs at these schools were only advertised yesterday after they were omitted from the provincial education department’s August gazette.
Up until two days ago, the affected schools were unsure if the new list was even going to be published before the December holidays started.
The Mercury was first made aware of the situation by a letter to the paper, which claimed that the department had mistakenly left numerous schools in the province off the previous “promotion vacancy” list.
Spokesman Muzi Mahlambi conceded that the department might have made a mistake, but stressed that it had been remedied, as promised, through the publication of yesterday’s bulletin.
The onus was on schools to submit their vacancy lists in time to be published in one of four quarterly bulletins, he said.
Former principal of Durban High School Trevor Bennison said the process of sifting through applications, shortlisting, conducting interviews, making recommendations to the department and finally placing the person was time-consuming.
If schools did manage to fill posts at the last minute, “then this will create new problems, as those staff who leave their schools at short notice then leave vacancies behind them”. Replacements should have been decided on by the end of October, said Bennison.
Tim Gordon, national chief executive of the Governing Body Foundation, confirmed that this had been the dilemma for at least 20 of the foundation’s member schools, which he had brought to the department’s attention.
“So we believe that as soon as someone gives notice, their position should be advertised.”
Otherwise the delay caused a disruption in teaching, because the substitute would be shuffled when a permanent appointment was made, Gordon said.
The “highly unsuitable situation” also gave rise to changes in vision and management style.
In some instances, no one could be found to fill a temporary post and, with a subject like maths, experienced and qualified teachers were not easy to come by.
When staff occupied acting positions it could also cause friction.
For instance, when a vacancy for a principal existed, and the deputy principal stepped in, it could create the expectation that he or she would eventually land the top job.
