Spokesperson for the department of education in the Northern Cape Geoffrey Van Der Merwe says a total of 13 teacher posts were lost by the department of education due to a drop in learner numbers at schools across the province. Van Der Merwe says he says various reasons can be sited for this which include the relocations by parents due to better economic opportunities and teenage pregnancies amongst others. He says other factors that must also be considered are the grades this is applicable to. Meanwhile, the department has indicated that 378 promotional posts were advertised and 278 were filled, whilst 118 posts are in the process of being re-advertised with 9 posts still outstanding. According to Van Der Merwe, the department has a total of 1 937 temporary educators in the system.  

Journalist: Rene Julies
Email: rckjulies@gmail.com