#KeepKidsSafe: SADTU continue to jeopardise children’s futures
Note to Editors: The statement below follows the DA's submissions to the Essential Services Committee public hearings on essential services in basic education.
Find soundbites in English, Sesotho and IsiXhosa by Ms Marchesi and in Afrikaans by Ms Boshoff.
Today, DA Shadow Minister of Basic Education, Nomsa Marchesi MP, DA Member of the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education, Sonja Boshoff MP, and Western Cape Education MEC, Debbie Schafer MPL, attended the Cape Town leg of a series of hearings by the Essential Services Committee (ESC) on whether a minimum service level should be declared for school staff.
A submission was made to the ESC on behalf of Debbie Schafer MPL, calling for a minimum service level to be established at schools so that children are not abandoned during strikes or union meetings.
The DA firmly believes that there should be a minimum presence of school staff during school hours to ensure that learners are protected from harm.
However, The South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (SADTU) has repeatedly accused the DA of undermining the right of teachers to strike. This is not true. The DA’s call for a minimum service level is not a call to prevent teachers from striking. Our call is to ensure that there are some school staff present at schools during strike action or when there are union meetings and puts the safety of children at school first.
While the DA supports the right of workers to strike, we believe that the safety and security of children must always take priority. SADTU’s misleading claim only exposes that they put their own interests above the best interests of our children.
Our request to the ESC on setting a minimum service level is based on three main concerns:
Leadership and safety: The presence of senior school staff is vital in ensuring communication with emergency services or other authorities in instances that threaten learner safety and during union meetings or strikes.
Supervision: The presence of senior staff members will protect children from crime and violence, which has increased across the country.
Nutrition, health and hygiene: Learners who suffer from chronic illnesses and have specific health requirements will benefit from senior staff members always being around to take care of them. School staff also have a responsibility to ensure that learners have access to clean facilities and food.
Children should not be burdened by the responsibility of having to worry about their safety while at school. We hope that the submissions we have been making to the ESC will lead to the establishment of a minimum service level for school staff during strikes.
It is vital that our children learn in a safe environment so that they can be equipped with the skills necessary for getting a job. SADTU has held the future of learners to ransom for too long and this must stop.
Statement issued by Nomsa Marchesi MP, DA Shadow Minister of Basic Education, 16 July 2018
