TheTimes.jpg Union, ANC in policy face-off SADTU says it will block inspectors, assessments Sibongakonke Shoba, The Times, Johannesburg, 19 October 2015 The SA Democratic Teachers' Union has vowed to fight tooth and nail to block the government from reintroducing school inspectors, and against the annual national assessment. The COSATU-affiliated union said it would not comply with the ANC national general council's endorsement of the school inspectorate and vowed to take the battle to Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga. The ANC's national general council last week backed the reintroduction of the inspectorate and threw its support behind Motshekga's decision that schools take part in the assessment. Union general secretary Mugwena Maluleke said the ANC was entitled to take decisions but his union was not obliged to abide by them. "The position of the union is unchanged on both issues," said Maluleke. The union played a key role in pushing for the expulsion of the secretary of union federation COSATU, Zwelinzima Vavi, and of the National Union of Metalworkers of SA, and is regarded as one of President Jacob Zuma's government's staunchest supporters. It is a strong backer of COSATU President Sdumo Dlamini. The stand-off might have serious implications for the ANC in the local government elections next year because union members form a big chunk of the party's campaign machine. But Maluleke played this down, saying his union would direct its anger at Motshekga's department if the general council's decisions were implemented. "We must not confuse employee and employer issues with the outcome of the ANC general council meeting." Maluleke said school inspectors were an apartheid creation to police teachers. Inspectors destroyed the collegiality of the profession, he said. "Teachers [should be] supported by highly qualified subject advisers, not police." Transcribed from hard copy -- -- 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.
