Pretoria – The Department of Basic Education has set up a portal which links qualified but unemployed Mathematics and Physical Sciences teachers with principals of schools in need of teachers.
The department’s Dinaledi Unit created the platform to facilitate the rapid recruitment of teachers of these subjects.
Principals can download a form from the website and fill out their job requirements. The form is then sent to the Dinaledi Unit for verification and then posting on the site.
Similarly, prospective teachers can submit their information and qualifications. The Dinaledi Unit will verify their details and then post them on the site for principals to view.
According to the website, once the details supplied by principals and prospective teachers have been posted on the Dinaledi page, principals and teachers will be able to contact one another. Thereafter, the same employment processes that are followed in the respective provinces will proceed and the Dinaledi Unit will have no further involvement.
The details will be kept on the Dinaledi page for three months, and will be removed automatically after 90 days. Principals who have filled vacancies are encouraged to remove their posts from the site.
Dinaledi Unit Director, David Silman, told SAnews the initiative was aimed at easing the employment process, particularly in rural areas.
“Often you find that teachers don’t know where posts are available and principals find it difficult to find qualified teachers, especially at no-fee schools where there is no budget to advertise posts,” he said.
He added that the page went live last week. “We are not replacing any process, this is an addition,” said Silman.
The department has encouraged foreign-trained Mathematics and Physical Sciences teachers to use this process.
Qualified teachers and principals looking to fill vacancies can click on http://www.thutong.doe.gov.za/ResourceDownload.aspx?id=47512 for the Dinaledi Schools Maths and Sciences Teacher Information Form.
The Dinaledi schools project was launched in 2001 to improve performance and increase participation in mathematics, life sciences and physical sciences at schools in especially disadvantaged schools. The programme comprises 500 poorly resourced schools facing challenges in those key subject areas.
In August last year, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga created the Dinaledi Unit to increase the quality and quantity of matric passes in Mathematics, Physical and Life Sciences with a definite focus on girl learners, among other things. – SAnews.gov.za
