We are still to find out that government’s latest plan for the re-opening of schools will be, but in the interim it looks like the Department of Basic Education (DBE) is aiming to get as many teachers as possible into schools in order to get through a crammed curriculum before the year’s end.

To that end, the DBE is calling on unemployed teachers to apply to become substitutes to assist ailing schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. These applications would be facilitated by the National Recruitment Database (NRD), with the department adding that, “The length of the appointment will depend on the needs of the school you’re appointed in.”

Whether unemployed teachers are willing to risk possible COVID-19 infection remains to be seen, but with many struggling for income at this time, there might be little recourse.

If you are indeed interested in applying, the DBE adds that applicants must be in possession of a teaching qualification, have no criminal record and be registered with the South African Council for Educators (SACE) in order to eligible.

Application forms can be downloaded from the DBE website here, with applications being emailed to NRD[at]dbe[dot]gov[dot]co[dot]za.

Once your application has been accepted it will be made available to all schools and institutions across the country, so you may find yourself being offered a position outside of the province you reside in.

With the department seemingly pushing forward with its plan to re-open schools, it will be interesting to see how effective the use of substitute teachers will be, especially given the disruptions to learning to date, and the myriad challenges already facing schools that have chosen to continue the curriculum.

[Image – Photo by Barry Zhou on Unsplash]