PYEI Salary (By Phases)

The average PYEI salary in South Africa, according to Phase IV, is anywhere around R23,100 per month, which makes it R130 on an hourly basis. The Presidential Youth Employment Initiative is an excellent opportunity for young and aspiring teachers and allows you to train for betterment. If you want to know more about this scheme and its financial perks, dive right in.

Presidential Youth Employment Initiative Phases Explained

The Basic Education Employment Initiative announced the PYEI or Presidential Youth Employment Initiative across the South African nine provinces to train the teaching staff and improve the job opportunities for youth. This program was planned over four phases, each covering an employment contract of five years. So, let us discuss all these phases in detail.

PYEI Phase I

The first phase of PYEI was established by the Basic Education Employment Initiative in March 2021, with a total budget of R4.5 billion to provide almost 320,000 employment opportunities to students (men and women). The program was announced with the aim of providing classroom preparation support and teacher support during and before lectures. The teachers, under this program, were trained in Home Language, First Additional Language, Mathematics, and other BCM languages to address the learning gaps across different grades.

PYEI Phase II

The PYEI Phase II was announced back in October 2021 by the BEEI or Basic Education Employment Initiative, to improve the educational training of students between the ages of 18 and 35 (not applicable for other government grants). The Department plans to provide employment to almost 287,000 people and update their skills. At that point, five provinces were targeted and the application merit was decided on a first-come first-serve basis.

PYEI Phase III

The Department of Education introduced the PYEI Phase III in April 2022, with a target cohort of 280,000 on a five-month employment contract. This phase was primarily based on developing skills through eCubed technologies, including CV building, resume writing, service letters, and information opportunities. It addressed the devastating impacts of COVID-19 on the young generation and aimed to provide employment opportunities to them to curb poverty and lack of jobs for the upcoming youth.

PYEI Phase IV

The PYEI Phase IV was launched in February 2023 for the public schools in South African local communities. In this phase, the government has focused on female students with disabilities and targeted around 255,000 more job opportunities across the nine provinces of the country. In addition, the department is also looking forward to building partnerships with other organizations to upskill the youngsters and improve job opportunities.

PYEI Teaching Assistant Salary in South Africa

Here is a breakdown of the salary range and payscale for PYEI teaching assistance in South Africa as of 2023.

Salary Range

As per the Department of Education, the salary of a teaching assistant in South Africa starts from R23 100 and goes up to R35 300, making it an hourly wage of R130. It must be noted that this salary is not legally mandated and is reserved for changes based on your level of training and educational qualifications.

Median Salary

The median salary is the amount half the workforce gets in a country over the course of time. According to the record stats by BEEI, the median salary for teaching assistants in South Africa is around R21 000 per month.

Percentile

Moreover, the 25th percentile salary of teaching assistants is around R17 400 per month, which means 25% of the workforce is earning this amount. In contrast, the 75th percentile for the PYEI assistants is approximately R23 800, which means 75% of the workforce has this average salary.

Bonuses and Incentives

The teaching staff is known to have fringe benefits like rent allowances, housing, medical waivers, and accommodation. Apart from this, almost 73% of the teaching assistants under the PYEI scheme enjoyed bonuses. These incentives range from 1 to 3% of their annual salary, which is considerably high.

Professional Responsibilities of a Teacher Assistant

A teacher assistant is a junior educational instructor, responsible for helping the class teacher with record keeping. This includes tasks like taking attendance, grading papers, and gathering results. Following are some professional duties a teaching assistant is required to perform.

• Supervising students outside the class during recess, lunch breaks, and field trips
• Helping the teachers take attendance and marking exams
• Gathering and distributing the annual grades
• Getting the study material from the teacher and distributing it among the students

Factors that Influence PYEI Salary in South Africa

There were several factors that were counted by the Department of Education while planning for PYEI, including your expertise, training level, gender, and posting station. So, let us discuss them individually in detail.

Level of Experience

The first thing considered while drafting the PYEI scheme was your age and level of expertise. Each phase has its own preferences for age and skillset. Here is a breakdown of how the salary was decided based on your expertise in the teaching profession.

• Less than 2 Years of Experience

As per the stats, professional teacher assistants under PYEI were paid around R13 600 per month.

• 2-5 Years of Experience

The PYEI professional teaching assistants with an average expertise of two to five years have an expected salary of R18 300, which is 34% more than the previous category.

• 5-10 Years of Experience

For the teaching assistants with five to ten years of experience, the average salary is around R23 700 per month, which is around 30% more than the previous level.

• 10-15 Years of Experience

As per PYEI, professionals with ten to fifteen years of experience earn around R28 800 per month, which is 21% more than those with less than ten years of expertise.

• 15-20 Years of Experience

As compared to teaching assistants with fifteen years of experience, the professionals in this category earn around 9% more, which makes it approximately R31 400 per month.

• More than 20 Years of Experience

Finally, employees with 20 years of experience are paid around R33 100 per month according to PYEI.

Level of Experience	Estimated Salary (Per Month)
Less than 2 Years	R13 600
2-5 Years	R18 300
5-10 Years	R23 700
10-15 Years	R28 800
15-20 Years	R31 400
More than 20 Years	R33 100

Gender

Gender is yet another factor that was given a high priority during the planning stages of the PYEI scheme. In Phase I and II, the department gave equal opportunities to men and women, however, the latter two phases were primarily focused on empowering women and people with disabilities. Hence, according to the stats, though there is a minimal salary variance between the two genders in the first two phases, the later two stages noted a considerable 7% difference.

City of Allocation

Though the PYEI scheme was organized to facilitate the nine provinces, the opportunities and salary packages provided to youth were different for each city. Hence, it would be safe to claim that the teacher’s assistant salaries are influenced by their school stations. So, let us discuss the salary range for popular cities in South Africa.

City Station	Average Salary (Per Month)
Bloemfontein	R21 900
Cape Town	R26 100
Durban	R23 600
Johannesburg	R23 800
Port Elizabeth	R21 000
Pretoria	R22 100

PYEI is an excellent scheme from the South African government for anyone who aims to excel in the profession of education. It not only has financial benefits but also covers the training programs that would help you grow and improve over the period. I hope, after reading this guide, you are aware of the financial and academic benefits of this scheme.