A new phase of the Department of Basic Education’s teaching assistant initiative has started this month. Some of the youth involved in Phase III of the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative (PYEI) have been eliminated, whilst others progress to this new phase.
The Education Department had decided not to extend contracts of individuals that did not meet the requirements that the department had put forward.
It has been reported that some of the reasons included reports of misconduct, for instance, absenteeism, involvement in criminal activities, and also being beneficiaries of the R350 Social Relief Distress (SRD) grant.
The department has made an announcement:
The youth placed in the initiative should not be in education, not in employment, and not in training.
It had been announced even in the initial stages of this initiative that teacher assistants ought not to have other streams of income.
According to DBE spokesperson, Elijah Mhlanga 250 000 people qualified to proceed to Phase III.
The department continues to host workshops around the country with its stakeholders to raise awareness about the standard procedures to minimise systematic challenges in the programmes.
The group of teacher assistants that have continued to the third phase of the initiative has received their contracts.
The assistants have the opportunity to use the skills that they have gathered through the training in Phase II in supporting teaching and learning in the DBE schools.
This will ensure continuity, maintain stability, and sustained impact in schools.
