SADTU NEC STATEMENT
01 September 2015
The National Executive Committee of the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) held a successful meeting from 26 to 27 August 2015 at Karridene Hotel in the South Coast of KwaZulu Natal. The meeting was the first after many crucial gatherings of the Tripartite Alliance namely: COSATU, SACP special congresses and the World Congress of Teacher Union Federations under Education International (EI) held in Ottawa, Canada. The NEC meeting deliberated on among others education, labour and socio economic matters and took crucial decisions.
The NEC deliberated on the role of education in addressing issues of skills shortages in our country in order to respond to the ailing economy. The NEC noted with serious concern the job losses in the domestic as well as global economy with some signs of economic recession in South Africa and Brazil who are BRICS members. It held the view that quality teachers, quality tools, quality teaching and learning environments are required to drive sustainable economic growth.
The NEC provided leadership on several pressing issues:
On the introduction of Mandarin in public schools
The NEC expressed its disappointment with the Department of Basic Education’s continuous efforts to spin its way out of what is clearly an unpopular decision. It reiterated the Union’s stance that the introduction of Mandarin is the re-colonization of South Africa.
The NEC took a decision that the Union will engage on a programme to involve stakeholders in education including COSAS, COSATU affiliates, PANSLAB, traditional leaders, Education Alliance and the society at large against the introduction of Mandarin and its prioritisation over our indigenous languages.
The Union will also discourage members from participating in the envisaged Mandarin training programme for teachers.
Further, the Union will convene a seminar that will include those from the academia to fraternal organisations and create a platform which will see us engaging on how we can prioritise our own indigenous languages.
Language is the essence of who we are. Colonialism and apartheid have denied our people their language, rich culture and heritage and limited our view of the world. A people without a language remain divided and impoverished. Poverty of indigenous languages breeds violence and low self esteem. Lack of quality mother language teaching in our schools is hindering our children from accessing quality education. The language, heritage and history of the Khoi and San people are becoming extinct but we have not heard the same noise being made to save their language.
On job losses
The NEC noted the report of the COSATU Special Central Executive Committee on the day of action, 7 October 2015, to demand decent work and protest over job losses.
The NEC resolved to heed COSATU’s call and begin preparations that will ensure SADTU members join the other workers in action in defense of jobs.
On COSAS and corporal punishment
The NEC condemned in the strongest terms, the provocative call by COSAS to the learners to physically assault teachers that carry out corporal punishment. The call is irresponsible and morally bankrupt. The NEC said it could not remain silent when learners; “Whom we view as our children, to denigrate to such a level.”
The call is cheap populism given that COSAS knows the procedures to follow in reporting teacher misconduct.
It is also an indication of the degenerating state of affairs within the COSAS leadership collective.
The NEC resolved that bilateral talks be convened between the Union and the COSAS leadership and, at a later stage, with the Education Alliance.
The NEC reiterated the Union’s stance on corporal punishment. SADTU condemns acts of corporal punishment in line with the Union’s code of conduct. No teacher should administer this barbaric act in our schools. The NEC also called upon parents to take full responsibility of motivating their children to value education and support teachers’ efforts.
The NEC condemned the lack of professionalism from some few teachers who engage in sexual relations with learners. There is no excuse for such behavior. It should not be tolerated and be rooted out of our system once and for all.
On Privatization in and of Education
The NEC noted that there is a well-co-ordinated grouping of private companies that have identified education as the next “gold mine” to exploit and use our children as commodity in South Africa and on a global scale. These chain operators and service providers have relationships with each other with the main purpose of dictating the parameters of education from the outside, and for financial gain. Learners are not commodities and cannot be auctioned to the highest bidders
The NEC therefore resolved that the Union should launch and intensify a campaign against the privatisation in and of our education. The Union will look at partnering with like-minded organisations and convene a seminar against this disturbing trend of privatisation of education. As education is a public good, Government should therefore focus on increasing its spending towards the achievement of quality public education and universal access.
The ongoing attack on collective bargaining and lack of proper consultation by the Department of Basic Education (DBE)
The NEC received reports on the ongoing attack on collective bargaining and consultation by the DBE over a period of five years. The NEC conducted an analysis of collective agreements aimed at improving the quality of teaching and learning and concluded that the DBE was involved in well orchestrated low intensity war against the unions. The DBE has failed to consult on matters of ANA which is supposed to be diagnostic tool to assess the system. However it has been reduced to an onslaught on teachers with no intention to improve the system by ensuring fit for purpose intervention in the form of ongoing professional development for all in the system that was supposed to be part of the diagnosis.
The DBE committed publicly to engage the Unions; however, this has not happened because the Department wants to render unions irrelevant.
The DBE has failed to implement 0, 5% parity despite making commitments on numerous occasions. This intransigence has destroyed the morale of the teachers who are resigning in huge numbers as their profession is under attack from pre ANA and the high stake test neoliberal ideology with some de-profesionalizing effects caused by labeling schools and teachers.
The DBE committed publicly to consult with Unions on the principals standards regulations and this didn't happen, instead they have embarked on a gazette-driven tangent which is meant to sideline the Unions on issues affecting conditions of employment. The DBE has failed to publish the agreed upon Personnel Administrative Measures because this process resulted through collective bargaining. Instead, they have opted to gazette policies for public comments whilst there is a Council established to facilitate consultations in order to promote labour peace.
The DBE has, for more than five years, failed to review the Peter Morkel Model dealing with Post Provisioning Norms; our teachers continue to teach overcrowded classes. This lack of commitment is destroying education because the DBE is prioritizing Mandarin over ensuring quality teaching and learning environments.
The DBE has failed our social cohesion project by not monitoring the incremental implementation of the teaching of African Languages including denying schools the necessary quality teachers because there is no plan to review the Post Provisioning Norms.
The NEC had no option but to adopt a programme of action on all the issues affecting the conditions of employment, including directing all members of SADTU not to administer ANA until such time that the DBE stops imposing policies that are not meant to improve the working relationship, but creating an environment that will compromise education and labour peace.
The NEC resolved to call upon all members of SADTU to defend education by not administering ANA until the DBE comes to the consultation table to deal with education matters in a responsible manner and not the antagonist approach they have adopted. Such an approach is destroying the culture of teaching and learning, because teachers are tired of being undermined and are going to defend them-selves with everything they have in defending education. We need to conclude and sign an agreement on the conditions of service for both AET and ECD practitioners.
On Curriculum Development
The NEC noted that the current school curriculum was not entirely progressive and would not equip learners to be conscious South Africans who would aspire to a socialist future. It was also not consistent with the call for people’s education for people’s power.
Our education system has all the signs of a banking system of education where a child is not developed to become a complete citizen who think and act independently while contributing to the development of society.
The NEC resolved that the Union should come up with a strategy and implementation plan on how to positively influence the development of the curriculum. A seminar to focus on how the Union can play an active role in curriculum development will be convened.
On the Human Rights Watch report on inclusive education
The NEC welcomed the report of the Human Rights Watch on the country’s failure to guarantee inclusive education for children with disabilities.
The Report has shown that although South Africa was one of the first countries to endorse the UN Disability Rights Treaty in 1997, close to half a million children with disabilities are still excluded from schools.
The NEC supported the Human Rights Watch recommendation that Government makes into law the Education White Paper 6 – the Government’s inclusive education policy which calls for among others, the development of an adequately resourced implementation plan to ensure all public ordinary schools accommodate disabled children.
The NEC further called on government to provide proper training of teachers about inclusive education methodologies, practical training about children’s needs according to their disabilities and to provide incentives for teachers to teach children with disabilities.
The NEC further called upon the DBE to engage Unions in reviewing the post provisioning norms in order to adopt a weighting system that will guarantee quality education to all learners.
It further expressed its condolences to the families of learners who died when their school was gutted by fire in a school for the deaf in the North West last week.
The incident was not the first in a school for learners with disabilities in the province. The NEC then called on government to step up its efforts towards ensuring the safety of disabled learners.
On the strategy to destroy SADTU from within.
The NEC exposed the strategy to destroy SADTU from within by leaders who contest positions within the branches and regions of our Union with the aim of using the Union resources to organize for the non registered pseudo-union Sapsu. The NEC resolved to take decisive action on Union members whose names appear on the website of the so called Sapsu as organisers. These members will be subjected to internal disciplinary processes. The NEC called upon members in all nine provinces to expose those leaders and not to nominate them since they have identified themselves as the enemies of the Union and its members. SADTU cannot allow people to work within the union to collapse it.
The NEC also indicated its satisfaction with the progress made towards uniting the Union in the Eastern Cape Province. It thanked the members for remaining loyal to the Union and not to allow themselves to be used by certain individuals to destroy SADTU.
On the hosting of SATO Games.
SADTU hosted a successful 4th Southern African Teachers’ Organisation (SATO) Games from 28 to 30 August 2015 in Durban with teachers from Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho, Zambia, Namibia and South Africa competing in different sporting codes.
SADTU members are hard at work preparing for the Union’s national sports festival scheduled to take place in the first week of October, 2015. We value sport as an integral part of education and social cohesion and will work with the Department of Sport and Recreation to revive schools sports.
We congratulate our sister union SAMWU for their successful congress. We commit to be on their side in defence of COSATU and in championing the course of our workers led by a united Federation being part of the Congress movement.
Statement issued by SADTU, September 1 2015
