SADTU MEDIA STATEMENT
SADTU’S RESPONSE TO THE NYDA’S CALL FOR TEACHERS TO BE DE-UNIONISED 23 January 2012 The National Youth Development Agency’s call for teaching to be declared an essential service and be de-unionised smacks of naivety, immaturity and is reactionary. Such a call shows little understanding of the deep inequalities in education which come from the history of apartheid. As SADTU, South Africa’s biggest teacher union, we reject such a call. First, the declaration of teaching as an essential service won’t address the challenges facing education but will instead, cover them up. We don’t see this as assisting in improving the quality of education but eroding victories by the working class. We are not being sentimental or hampering on rhetoric but are stating the facts. The organizational rights as contained in the Labour Relations Act and the South African Constitution were indeed fought hard for and we are going to defend them. As SADTU we have always warned about leveling blame against other stakeholders but take collective responsibility to turn the situation around in the interest of our future. We have to deal with the systematic problems our country is facing. We have to continuously develop our teachers throughout their careers. Quality teachers for quality educationare a non-negotiable. We have to invest in early childhood education in order to build a firm foundation for further education and training. As SADTU we are a signatory to the Quality Learning and Teaching Campaign which states that, teachers shall be on time, on task, prepared and conducting themselves professionally. The code also compels the department of education to provide all the necessary resources for highly qualified and supported teachers and infrastructure that is essential to effective teaching and learning. We believe that the call for education to be declared an essential service is based on lack of appreciation for the complexities of education and it is just seeking attention and as SADTU we are not interested in simplistic solutions. ISSUED BY: SADTU Secretariat Contacts: General Secretary, Mugwena Maluleke 082 783 2968 Deputy Secretary, Nkosana Dolopi 082 709 5651 Media Officer, Nomusa Cembi 082 719 5157 Castro's iPad -- 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] .
