PIETERMARITZBURG - Unemployed KwaZulu-Natal teachers are protesting over jobs and NSFAS debt.
Teacher shortage is deepening in the province, and young, qualified educators have been sleeping outside the education offices since January.
They’re demanding permanent posts and the scrapping of their NSFAS debt.
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The provincial department of education spokesperson, Mlu Mtshali said they have had engagements with stakeholders to outline the number of teachers required as well as assess how many educators are already in the system.
“Based on that, we will identify excess teachers that are already in the system and place them in schools accordingly.
“Once we have an idea of what the gap is and where the vacancies are, in April of 2026 we will advertise positions based on that," he said.
Mtshali insists that this was communicated with the teachers applying for jobs.
But despite this, unemployed teachers have vowed to continue to camp outside the department offices until they are offered letters of employment