An outcry has broken out at Tshififi after three educators who volunteered their services and started the only school in a village to ensure that children have easy access to education, have been ignored by the department of education.

The three outraged educators, Vidah Mammburu (38), Thivhonali Ramunasi (43) and Tshilidzi Negogogo (42), had hoped to be absorbed when the department registered the school, but that was not to be. With the backing of their community, they accuse the department of practicing double standards by overlooking them and employing teachers from other schools to come and work at the school. The last straw was last week when they were told that their services were no longer needed and they should never set foot again at the school. An impromptu community meeting was arranged on Sunday at the J R Tshikalange Primary School, the only one in the village.

The school was started by the community way back in 2004 and the three educators immediately made their services available, free of charge. The school started with only 24 learners and the three educators with learners from Grade R to Grade 4 being catered for at the time. The school has grown over the years and today boasts more than 200 learners. Things were beginning to look up in 2006 when the school was registered with the Department of Education. Mobile classes were brought to the school and the community hoped for the best. In 2007, the department built new classrooms and in 2008 the SGB of the school applied at the department for perma-nent staff members. A principal was appointed in 2008, but the educa-tors were not appointed.

One of the aggrieved educators, Vidah Mammburu, said they were very excited when the school was registered with the department as they thought their suffering had come to an end. They thought they would automatically be absorbed, as they are the ones who started the school. “The govern-ment is preaching that we create our own jobs and this is exactly what we have done, but we seem to have created jobs for others and not for ourselves,” she said. “Imagine having selflessly served and dedicated yourself to advance your community, only to find that educators are being drawn from other schools while you are being overlooked. This is very distressing,” she said. Mammburu said they smelt a rat when the department appointed the principal and they were left out in the cold. “Would there be any principal post if there was no school?” she asked.

Another of the affected educators, Ms Thivhonali Ramunisi, said they have families who depend on them for survival and stopping them from working would be like a death sentence. “How do they think we would cope after serving our community for so long being told to leave our posts and out of the blue,” she said.

The chairperson of the SGB, Mr Samuel Net-shifhefhe, said the three were of much help to the school. “They are highly qualified and were huge assets to the school,” said the SGB spokesperson. He said Mammburu has a BA degree in education, Ramunasi has a three-year teachers’ diploma and Negogogo has a BA degree and university education diploma. “We told the department that it was not good to stop the teachers who started the school, but we were told this could only hap-pen if the community had money to pay the staff,” said Mr Netshif-hefhe.

“We have agreed to contribute a certain amount to pay the teachers until they are absorbed,” he said, adding that they would be pushing the de-partment to create posts for them. “We have written letters to the department and even to the MEC himself, but we have received no response,” said Mr Netshifhefhe.

Limpopo Provincial Education spokesperson Mr Ndo Mangala said the policy of the department did not allow automatic appointments or absorption. “We have to follow proper employment procedures and the educators have to wait for advertised posts and have to apply if they are properly qualified,” he said.