Teachers on pre-matric spring cram programme still unpaid

A GROUP of specialised teachers who gave up their holiday last year to tutor hundreds of rural matric candidates are still waiting for the Eastern Cape department of education to pay them.

Paul Geswendt, the principal of Adelaide Gymnasium High School, where the classes were held, said the school had also not been reimbursed after spending more than R300 000 of its hostel budget to provide accommodation and food for the pupils attending the spring holiday classes.

The programme was held from October 1 to 6, where about 35 teachers tutored core matric subjects such as maths, science and accounting to more than 300 pupils from rural schools in the Fort Beaufort education district.

Lisa Potgieter, who specialises in maths and was appointed as deputy centre manager for the pre-exam cram, said they were “upset” about the treatment they were receiving.

“Every time we call the district offices we are given the run-around. It’s one excuse after the other,” said Potgieter.

The agreement was that each teacher would be paid R350 per hour, Potgieter said.

“I sometimes had to work more than 12 hours a day, and some teachers tutored for up to four hours a day. Some of my colleagues had to travel long distances to get to the centre,” said Potgieter.

Although a payment date was never set, after numerous calls to the Fort Beaufort district office – which facilitated the classes – Potgieter said they were eventually told that they would be paid in January.

Teacher Phinda Mnyamana, who was appointed as secretary for the spring classes, said the last communication she received from the district was that its human resources office was understaffed, hence the delay.

“We are frustrated. They promised to pay us and said we should relax but until today we have not received any payment,” said Mnyamana.

Mnyamana said some teachers had travelled from as far as East London and were promised they would be reimbursed for their travel costs.

“We filled out claim forms for the hours of tutoring and for petrol costs,” said Mnyamana.

The R300 000 spent from Adelaide High’s hostel budget had also placed pressure on the school.

“We had to put the hostel’s renovations on hold and cut back on some of the services at the school,” said Geswendt. When asked for comment, provincial education spokesman Malibongwe Mtima said in most instances extra classes were facilitated by districts, in this case the Fort Beaufort district.

Mtima said he would check with the district to establish the facts for an official response, but by the time of writing, he was still waiting on feedback from the district director. —