The Times *Sadtu ditches classes* /But the picture is not so bleak countrywide/ *Zandile Mbabela, The Times, Johannnesburg, 5 October 2010*Though teachers affiliated to the SA Democratic Teachers' Union have pulled out of the Department of Educations' matric catch-up programmes in Soweto, education departments throughout the country claimed they were confident that study camps during the school holidays would prove successful.
Ronald Nyathi, the union's spokesman for its central Gauteng region, said teachers did not take part in the recovery plan because the Department of Basic Education had refused to pay them.
"[The union] would have loved to ensure that the holidays were used optimally had the department agreed to the remuneration request."
In some Soweto and Tshwane schools, Department of Basic Education officials had to take over to keep the camps going.
A Gauteng Education Department spokesman, Charles Phahlane, said the holiday programme had an average attendance 65%.
"Given that this was during the holiday period, that some pupils might have gone on vacation and that this was a voluntary programme, the programme was a success," he said.
With just over two weeks before the their final exams, on October25, matric pupils have come out in large numbers in an attempt to catch up on time lost during the World Cup and the public sector strike.
Education Department spokesman for Mpumalanga, Jasper Zwane, said his department was confident that the matrics would improve on last year's dismal 47.9% pass rate.
"Our holiday recovery programme, which catered for all grades, was a huge success and we were very impressed with the commitment shown by teachers, pupils and even administrative staff," he said.
Zwane said that regular visits by education MEC Reginah Mhaule and premier David Mabuza to schools in the worst-performing districts - Bushbuckridge and Ehlanzeni - showed that pupils and teachers were determined to improve on last year's results.
"We are all extremely confident that our matric results will improve, especially in Bushbuckridge."
Eastern Cape, which had a 51% matric pass rate last year, got off to a shaky start with an initial nearly 75% attendance at study camps but the figure stood at "well over 90%" by the end of the week.
The province's education spokesman, Mali Mtima, said that most schools in the 23 school districts had completed the curriculum.
"When the strike started, it was only a day before matrics were to complete the curriculum, so most of our schools are definitely ready for the finals," said Mtima.
In Western Cape, some schools reported over 90% attendance during the week.*From: http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/article689341.ece/Sadtu-ditches-classes*
* * * * -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] .
<<image/jpeg>>
