 1 – 3 March 2010
COSATU CEC press statement
[Extract]
Education
Education is the
foundation on which all nations have liberated themselves, arguably
more important than any other area of development.
Whilst we have made
tremendous progress on many areas such as improving infrastructure,
delivery of books, enrolment of children in particular the girl child,
improving access by opening more no-fee schools, etc. we have not
succeeded in transforming the education system in both quality and
quantity.
The inequalities
stubbornly remain in place. The poor’s children remain trapped in
inferior education with wholly inadequate infrastructure. 70% of our
schools do not have libraries and 60% do not have laboratories. 60% of
children are pushed out of the schooling system before they reach grade
12.
Of the 1 550 790 South
African children who started school in 1998, only 551 940 of them
registered for the matric class. That is a drop-out rate of 64%. Of
these 551 940 who wrote matric exams, only 334 609 (60.6%) passed
matric and just 109 697 achieved university entrance. That means that 1
216 181 of the original 1998 intake are left with no qualifications
and, given the current rate of unemployment, no jobs, no hope and no
future. No wonder 75% of all the unemployed are made up of those who
are below the age of 35 years. No wonder why there is so much crime and
other social ills such collapse of family values, HIV/AIDS, etc.
A good number of
schools in the former blacks-only residential areas are dysfunctional
with a complete collapse of discipline.
The children of the
rich are in private schools. The children of the middle class who are
now joined by a minority of blacks are in the former Model C schools.
Both private and former Model C schools are in varying degrees far
better than the schools where the working class’s kids are attending.
In this context we
warmly welcomed the selfless, heroic and revolutionary stance adopted
by the SADTU leadership in its battle sometimes with its own structures
and members to save generations of working class children from this
unfolding tragedy. Recently SADTU sought not only to lead itself and
other teacher unions but the society as well. We welcomed the statement
of recommitment by SADTU, NAPTOSA and SAOU.
We have decided that
for the sake our own children, and the generations to come to join
hands with SADTU, NAPTOSA and SAOU and the Minister of Basic Education,
Angie Motshekga who we also had an honour that she addressed the CEC to
take the following steps and ensure that:
a. Absenteeism
among educators will be addressed and it will be required of all
educators to complete attendance registers.
b. School
management teams will complete and implement school timetables in the
shortest possible time to ensure that schools can begin their academic
programmes from the first formal day of the new school term;
c. Unacceptable and
unprofessional conduct by educators will not be tolerated, and that
their members cannot expect that the unions will protect guilty
educators in an unquestionable manner;
d. Educators will
strive to be positive role models to learners as well as in their
respective communities;
e. School feeding
schemes will be properly administered and managed in a transparent and
equitable manner;
f. The appropriate
LTSM will be provided to learners in the shortest time possible;
g. Educators will
prepare for classes in a manner that can be expected of dedicated
professional educators;
h. Educators will
comply with their administrative responsibilities to ensure that
schools and learners are not disadvantaged;
i. Educators and
schools will enforce the appropriate codes of conduct at all schools to
ensure that learners will abide by fair and equitable school rules; and
j. Educators will
attend relevant in-service training courses regarding the curriculum
and school management to ensure that they are able to teach and manage
in the most effective manner.
Requisite support
from educational authorities
No education system
can show meaningful progress unless the bureaucracy provides the
required support to educators and schools and the respective provincial
departments of education provide the enabling environment that makes it
possible for schools to provide quality education. If such support is
absent, or is not of an acceptable standard, schools find it extremely
difficult, if not impossible, to provide quality education.
We will campaign to
ensure that workers who are the parents appreciate the critical role
they can play in turning this situation around. In this regard we call
on workers to stand for positions in the School Governing Bodies
(SGBs), parents and learners, i.e. that SGBs will:
a. Empower
themselves by attending appropriate training courses to be able to
comply with their fiduciary duties and responsibilities towards the
respective schools and school communities;
b. Provide the
required support to schools and educators in a manner that will not
intrude on the professional terrain of principals and educators;
c. That parents
will -
d. That learners will
–
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