Hundreds of retired teachers in Gauteng came out in support of an initiative to help out with extra tuition and assist in schools around the province. The Gauteng education department says those with specialised subject knowledge will be screened and could be helping out at schools in the next few weeks.

Retired teachers possess a wealth of experience. Some taught for close to 40 years and they say they are eager to go back and help out. The teachers have however expressed their concern at the downward spiral of competency levels in reading, writing as well as in solving mathematical problems. They also say they will not be offering their time entirely free of charge.

Retired teacher, Mary Whitehead, says: "I do feel that if they want our expertise they actually do need to bring us in as consultants and pay us something." Another teacher, Stella Van der Merwe, says: "We must go back to the basics and it starts in grade one."

The initiative has the blessing of the national Basic Education Department, but teachers union Sadtu says it wants to further engage with the MEC, on exactly what the retirees will be expected to do. The department says money has already been budgeted to concentrate on key areas such as numeracy and literacy.

The Gauteng Education MEC, Barbara Creecy says: “There is a R150 million earmarked for each of those strategies and a portion of that is earmarked for teacher development and another portion is earmarked to assist with extra teachers that we might need for coaching, for extra lessons”

The initiative could also include assisting children with homework after school and helping out at Saturday classes.