After 17 years of teaching older children I realised I actually had a strong passion for working with small children. I decided to resign from teaching to pursue my dream of specialising in the little ones’ education and care. I obtained a diploma in pre-primary education and found a position as a grade R practitioner.
In 2004 the department of education took over grade R classes – and our remuneration – from school governing bodies, which had paid us from school coffers. The department also had to deal with two key responsibilities: upgrading the qualiÂfications of grade R practitioners and incorporating grade R into the mainstream school system.
And so I will remember 2004 as the year when things went from bad to worse for me as a pre-school practitioner. Most of us did not get paid on time or, worse, our salaries fluctuated. Some months our salaries would be inexplicably increased and the next month it would be abruptly reduced. It affected not only our finances, but our families’ lives.
I remember how, for three consecutive months, we were paid R3 000, but the following months we were paid R1 000 less. We received no explanation for this discrepancy. One day I went to the principal’s office to inquire about it but she, too, was perplexed. I phoned friends at schools elsewhere and found that they were in the same boat.
Some of us had already made financial commitments based on the initial amount, so getting paid less, without prior warning, turned our lives upside down. It was a devastating time for me. The passion and enthusiasm with which I had when I embraced the profession took a knock, and gloom and despondency prevailed.
On the home front things did not look good. I had to explain to my husband what had happened and, without written proof, it was very difficult to convince him. This troubled me a lot, because it created the impression that I was being reckless with money.
I had been inspired to focus on pre-schoolers and I was keen to help them at this delicate stage of their lives. I believe grade R is crucial for the general improvement of education and, if teachers at this level are not taken care of, our system is doomed.
We should be made to feel motivated and taken care of as we lay a proper educational foundation for these children before they start formal schooling.
Despite all this, I still love working with my little angels. I just hope things will improve for pre-school practitioners so that we can continue to do what we love most.
Nono Lehlokwa teaches at Senyamo Primary School in Dobsonville, Gauteng