The Eastern Cape education department is losing R5,3-million a day because of teacher absenteeism alone, education MEC Nomsa Jajula confirmed on Tuesday.
There are an estimated 192 to 195 school days per year.
Jajula was briefing the media on the progress made by the department and revealed high levels of absenteeism, huge salary backlogs, corruption, drug abuse, gangsterism and poor performance at school.
She said the absenteeism was discovered when the department, in collaboration with the Office of the Auditor General, conducted a head count of all 74 000 of the department’s employees last year.
She said the head count showed absenteeism among teachers was 23%.
”This means that as many as 16 769 teachers were absent during the head count. This is clearly unacceptable. The department is losing R5,3-million per day due to absenteeism — but the cost to learners cannot be put in rand terms at all,” she said.
”A study clearly attests that there is a 98% correlation between teacher absenteeism and the matric pass rate.”
Jajula said the department was still investigating if the 16 769 members are ”ghosts, fictitious or real” absent employees of the department.
The department had a detailed database of all absent staff and the control unit was visiting the affected schools, she said.
”Action is being taken against the perpetrators.”
She said a paypoint management had been implemented and principals had started receiving salary advice notices and control pay-sheets, which were then returned to the department for monitoring.
”Absenteeism and leave will be controlled from this point on. This will immediately ensure that 85 percent of the budget of R8,537-billion allocated for personnel expenditure is under control,” she said.
Jajula said it would also ensure educators who were persistently absent would be dealt with in terms of the law and replaced by teachers who were willing to teach.
Jajula revealed that last year almost 28 000 teachers salary-related complaints dating back to 1990 were resolved.
”This has contributed to the anticipated over-expenditure on this financial year’s budget of R570-million.
”I am sorry that not all teachers who were owed could be paid,” she said.
She said a task team has been formed to sort out the problem in six weeks.
Jajula also announced that 438 schools would be built at a cost of R450-million, R80-million would be spent on school repairs.
She also announced that 286 schools, especially rural and farm schools, would be provided with transport, benefiting over 15000 pupils this financial year. – Sapa