BusinessDay.gif Unions to give joint response to educational assessment plan Karl Gernetzky, Business Day, Johannesburg, 21 September 2015 South Africa's five largest teachers' unions will on Monday announce their joint response to a decision by the Department of Basic Education (DBE) to press ahead with the annual national assessment in December. The unions said in joint statement on Sunday they would announce a joint response to a decision by the Council of Education Ministers on Friday to bring forward the standardised language and mathematics tests from February to the December 1. The Department of Basic Education had announced in September it had postponed the 2015 tests after meetings with unions in which numerous grievances were raised. That meeting followed threats from the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) that its members would refuse to administer the tests. Pupils from grades 1-9 were meant to begin writing the standardised literacy and numeracy tests in September. The objectives of the assessment include providing data to government and teachers, giving them information to improve interventions at all levels of the basic education system. It also gives parents an idea of their children's progress in the curriculum. This decision was then amended on Friday when the council - which consists of the minister of basic education and the heads of the nine provincial education departments - resolved that schools were ready for the tests and the effect of the postponement to next year would be negative. The Department of Basic Education said in a statement that the agreement struck with unions earlier in September was to postpone the tests by at least 90 days - and that the postponement was in line with this agreement. The council, however, expressed concern with the undermining of the tests by unions, adding, "Assessments are the yardstick by which the system is measured, and it shouldn't be tampered with in a haphazard and uncoordinated manner". SA's two largest teachers unions - SADTU and National Professional Teachers' Organisation of SA (NAPTOSA) - called for the period of the tests to be reviewed. The briefing on Monday morning will also include the South African Teachers Union, the Professional Educators Union, and the National Teachers' Union. SADTU has resolved that the tests be administered less frequently. It also wants the diagnostic nature of the tests to focus on improving the conditions of teaching and learning, rather than resulting in punitive action. NAPTOSA has raised concern that the administrative burden of the tests on teachers is counterproductive, as many teachers were forced to "teach to the test". From: http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/education/2015/09/21/unions-to-give-joint-r esponse-to-educational-assessment-plan -- -- 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.
