Teachers in the Eastern Cape ended a go-slow on Wednesday, February 08, 2012, the provincial education department said.

This came after the department and the teacher union Sadtu reached an agreement on the reinstatement of temporary teachers.

Eastern Cape premier Noxolo Kiviet, Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi, provincial education MEC Mandla Makhupula and the Sadtu leadership worked into the night on Tuesday to find a solution to the stalemate that crippled education in the province.

The industrial action started when teachers returned to school at the start of the academic year to find their temporary colleagues had been moved to other schools or let go.

They protested the added work-load with a wildcat strike followed by a go-slow.

Provincial government spokesman Mahlubandile Qwase said a memorandum of agreement that would normalise teaching had been signed.

“Sadtu has agreed to end their go slow and pickets that they have embarked on in the past few weeks,” he said.

Sadtu provincial secretary Mncekeleli Ndongeni said the union leaders would meet on Wednesday to convey the decision to branch secretaries.

The education MEC is to release a circular by February 10 reinstating temporary teachers.

The Democratic Alliance said the agreement was a victory for the union and a blow to education.

Edmund van Vuuren from the DA said more than 5500 posts that should have been filled through redeployment would stay vacant until a decision was taken by the relevant stakeholders in the bargaining chamber.

“This means that there will not be a teacher in each and every classroom in the Eastern Cape,” he said. – Sapa