The workers community of the Soweto College of Education's view on rationalisation

M.Ed.In the last few years, government budgetary constraints, together with policy-makers' ongoing interest towards accountability, resulted in the introduction of the rationalisation policy in both the education and public service departments. This situation led to the formation in 1996 of the college of education restructuring team. Issues under discussion by this team are not yet opened for public debate. However, these issues have a direct link to the proposed inquiry of my study. One of the issues was that, the provinces needed to rationalise colleges of education in preparation for them to be incorporated into the higher education sector. Another issue is an over supply of teachers in South Africa, especially in the Gauteng Province. The notion of retention of staff at the remaining colleges is questioned, because of the rationale behind the rationalisation policy, which is to "address the inequities of the past." This rationale serves as a contradiction when staff at the closing colleges is left to decide their uncertain future. In view of the above prevailing circumstances, this study strives to investigate the views of the worker community at the Swot College of education, and investigate the coping mechanisms that workers employ during the rationalisation process. The study found that the rationalisation policy brings problems to both the employer and the employee. Workers become frustrated and less committed in their work during this process. This process has also proved to be very expensive to the employer