HeraldLive reports that efforts to address critical teacher shortages at Nelson Mandela Bay schools have suffered yet another setback, with the reassignment of excess teachers delayed by a further three months.  

Almost 300 excess teachers in the Bay are now unsure about where to report for work on Tuesday, after the process of assigning them to schools where they are needed – which should have happened at the start of the second term – was delayed.  The hiccup follows the issuing of identification or placement letters by the provincial department of education on 30 March to 1,220 excess teachers across the province.  In the Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage districts, placement letters were issued to teachers with a list of four schools to choose from.  They were instructed to submit their choice of school by 31 March.  But the department backtracked at the eleventh hour and issued a circular on Thursday announcing an extension of this deadline to 31 May.  Exacerbating the situation was the fact that the contracts of 227 temporary teachers in Port Elizabeth had ended on 31 March.  The latest setback comes after a month-long protest last year by teachers, parents and pupils in the northern areas over teacher shortages.

• Read this report by Tremaine van Aardt in full at HeraldLive

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