News24 reports that nine schools in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) will be allowed to retain the same number of teaching posts they had in 2024 into 2026 after they successfully challenged the provincial education department’s teacher post allocations in court.

On Monday, the KZN High Court in Pietermaritzburg interdicted the department from implementing the so-called Post Provisioning Norms (PPN) that it had determined for these schools for 2026. The PPN refers to the number of teaching posts allocated to a school annually by provincial education departments. The interdict was granted, pending the finalisation of a dispute resolution process and/or the finalisation of a review of the outcome of an appeal lodged by the schools with KZN Education MEC Sipho Hlomuka. The schools hauled the department to court as a last resort after discovering that their teacher allocation for 2026 was incorrect. Initially, they attempted to contest their teacher allocation through an internal departmental process. After this failed, they declared a formal dispute with the department’s head, Nkosinathi Ngcobo, who was unable to resolve the issue.

Warren Smith, chairperson of Maritzburg College’s governing body, said that the department’s determination of the teacher post establishment for 2026 had “serious implications for schools and governing bodies”. He pointed out that the schools had not made provision for the appointment of additional educators in their respective budgets to replace educators they stood to lose. Smith added that if the department’s 2026 teacher post establishment were to be implemented, “it would mean that the affected applicants will have to redo their entire school timetable for 2026”.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Prega Govender at News24 (subscription / trial registration required)

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