SADTU to boycott upcoming annual assessment tests Tebogo Monama, The Star, Johannesburg, 4 September 2015 With just over a week before the start of the Annual National Assessments (ANAs), the country's biggest teacher union has announced a boycott. The SA Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) has resolved to instruct its 250,000 members not to invigilate the ANAs until the Department of Education halts policies that "compromise labour peace". The ANAs, a diagnostic tool to assess literacy and numeracy, are written between September 15 and 18. About 8.6 million pupils in grades 1 to 9 will write them. The tests were introduced in 2010. Last year's ANAs indicated that only 3 percent of Grade 9 pupils were numerate at a grade-appropriate level. SADTU claims the department has failed to consult the union. "It has been reduced to an onslaught on teachers, with no intention to improve the system by ensuring fit-for-purpose intervention," said union spokesperson Nomusa Cembi. Despite the boycott, departmental spokeswoman Troy martens said plans were on track for the exams. Suid-Afrikaanse Onerwysersunie chief executive Chris Klopper said: "The union has always maintained that the ANA in its current form does not achieve what the Department of Basic Education says it does. "It is neither diagnostic nor formative and contributes little, if anything, to an accurate assessment of either the curriculum or the learner's achievement," Klopper said. The DA has reacted with outrage to SADTU's threats. Spokeswoman on education Annette Lovemore said this would compromise the state's ability to assess the pupils' level of literacy and numeracy. Transcribed -- -- 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] . --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "YCLSA Discussion Forum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
