Greetimgs from SADTU KZN RECs Induction Workshop in Durban! _____
Mercury.gif Who controls SA schools? Leanne Jansen, The Mercury, Durban, 10 September 2015 The arm-wrestling over who is in charge of South African schools is not over yet. A key meeting on Wednesday between Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga, SADTU and the leaders of other teachers' unions, over unions' threat to refuse to administer and mark the Annual National Assessments, will continue this week. According to Basic Education Department spokesman Elijah Mhlanga and union representatives, no decisions were made on Wednesday and more time was needed for the parties to reach common ground. Next Tuesday, 8.6 million pupils in grades 1 to 9 at all public schools (and certain independent schools) are to write the maths and literacy tests. Education researchers warned last week that for the unions to defy the department would set a bad precedent. On Wednesday a political analyst equated the showdown to a "battle for demonstration over who has the influence and power". Wednesday's meeting was scheduled after the SA Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) called on its 256 000 members to refuse to administer and mark the assessments. The SA Onderwysersunie (SAOU) and the National Professional Teachers Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa) subsequently issued statements expressing their unhappiness about how the assessments were being conducted and used. In a statement issued by SADTU's general secretary, Mugwena Maluleke, and deputy general secretary, Nkosana Dolopi, SADTU's national leadership branded the assessments an "onslaught on teachers". It accused the Basic Education Department of waging a "well-orchestrated, low-level war" against teachers' unions, and of continuously failing to improve the working conditions of teachers. The SAOU and Naptosa then said they would make a decision about their participation after Wednesday's meeting with Motshekga. But National Teachers Union (Natu) deputy president Allen Thompson said it was "highly irresponsible" to call for a boycott. Political analyst Somadoda Fikeni said on Wednesday that for the assessments not to go ahead next week would send a "very negative message". "Many are concerned over the power that unions have over policy. It would also raise questions over the tripartite alliance-affiliated unions. If shown to hold a disproportionate amount of power, can anything be enforceable at a time when education reform is so desperately needed?" Fikeni said Motshekga would have felt under pressure not to be seen to be responding to pressure exerted by SADTU. He said the tussle between Motshekga and the unions over the assessments were a "battle for demonstration over who has the influence and power". The SAOU had argued that it wanted a more "scientific" approach to testing, that would use the results of a particular year on which to base remedial work for pupils, and training for teachers. On Friday, the leadership of Naptosa told its members that it saw "no purpose" in the assessments. In a newsletter to members, Naptosa's executive director, Henry Hendricks, said that because of the way the literacy and numeracy tests were being implemented, it needed to be overhauled, rather than "continuing blindly with a flawed policy that costs millions annually and amounts to nought". The statement did not make a call for a boycott. Hendricks said schools had resorted to teaching for the test, rather than teaching the curriculum. Nick Taylor, a highly regarded researcher and former head of the National Education Evaluation Development Unit, has called the boycott "completely out of order", and argued that there should be consequences should the threat materialise. He said each time teachers made demands, refused to do their jobs, and got away with it, the more schooling broke down. From: http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/who-controls-sa-schools-1.1913431#.VfE0Lh Gqqko -- -- 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.
