School Governing Body Federations support CEM decision on Annual National Assessment (ANA)
22 September 2015
Parent and learner organizations have come out in support of the decision by the Council of Education Ministers to administer the Annual National Assessment in December 2015.
Minister Motshekga met parent and learner organisations yesterday in two separate meetings in Pretoria to update them on developments in the sector and to attain their views on a multitude of matters.
The first meeting was with various school governing body associations and parent organisations. The Department is heartened by the commitment to education by parents with all seven parent organisations participating in the meeting. The organisations present were Federasie van Beheerliggame van Suid-Afrikaanse Skole (FEDSAS), Governors’ Alliance, South African Association for Specialised Education (SANASE), Governing Body Foundation, National Associations of School Governing Bodies, United Front for School Governing Bodies, and the National Congress for School Governing Bodies.
The Minister gave three comprehensive reports to the organisations which included the state of readiness for the National Senior Certificate examinations (NSC), proposed amendments to education policies and a report on the much publicized developments around the Annual National Assessments and reasons for its sudden postponement without consultation.
All organisations welcomed the extensive briefing and expressed their unequivocal support for the CEM decision to conduct the ANA from the 1st to the 4th of December 2015. Parents raised concerns over the perceived blurred lines of the responsibility of the employer and the employee especially with regards to ANA.
The meeting agreed to keep forums of this nature going and again emphasized the importance of ANA in improving education outcomes, especially quality and efficiency.
The second meeting was requested by the Congress of South African Students (COSAS) to discuss issues around school safety and discipline among other things as well as to get a briefing on the developments around ANA.
A productive discussion around violence, corporal punishment and discipline in schools took place. COSAS proposed a summit on discipline comprising of teachers, learners and experts with the view that coming together to resolve the challenges around violence in schools was the best way to move forward and find solutions. They also agreed that violence breeds violence and the Department agreed to support a peaceful #LearnWithoutFear campaign led by learners.
They also emphasised the importance of vibrant and functioning Representative Council of Learner (RCL) structures in addressing the concerns of learners.
COSAS indicated in the meeting that there was no hostility towards ANA by learners and they would be happy and ready to write the assessments this year in December, in line with the CEM decision.
The leaner organisation expressed concern over the public furore between unions and the Department over the writing of ANA and requested that the issues be resolved as swiftly as possible as not to have any negative effect on learners.
The meetings highlighted the importance of continuous engagement between education stakeholders and the Department of Basic Education to ensure we all take collective responsibility in ensuring that education is a societal issue and the development and wellbeing of the learner is at the centre of all decisions taken by the DBE.
Statement issued by Elijah Mhlanga, Department of Basic Education, September 22 2015
