How unions cripple education
THE National Youth Development Agency caused controversy two weeks ago when it proposed that teaching be declared an essential service.
Predictably, the biggest murmurs came from the teacher unions who wield a lot of power in schools.
The South African Democratic Teachers Union's (Sadtu) general secretary Mugwena Maluleke said the call "was naive, attention-seeking and shows little understanding of the inequalities in education".
If teaching is declared an essential service, the Labour Relations Act will treat teachers like health care workers. This means the law would have to be amended to limit their right to strike and "any conduct in contemplation or in furtherance of a strike".
South Africa's education system is in a crisis, with pupils failing in large numbers. Excuses for this abound. Lack of resources and support from the department are among those often cited by teachers.
But at the core of improving the system is a committed teaching force.
Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, has been silent on the suggestion that unions should be prevented from striking. She was one of the founding members of Sadtu, the biggest union, in 1990. So, could it be the reason why she would be reluctant to tame the power of the organisation she helped to establish.
Sadtu are signatories to the Quality Learning and Teaching Campaign which affirms that teachers should be on time, on task, prepared and conduct themselves professionally.
The code also compels the Department of Education to provide all the necessary resources for highly qualified and supported teachers and infrastructure that is essential to effective teaching and learning.
But are teachers abiding to the contract? Pupils in some schools in the Eastern Cape - the worst performing province in the country - have not been taught since schools opened this year. Teachers in the province have been on a go-slow for reasons that no one can understand other than mere politicking at the expense of pupils. It does not help that the department is run by maverick Modidima Mannya, who is consistently at loggerheads with the provincial Sadtu leadership which campaigned for his employment in the first place.
A few years ago, pupils in schools in Alexandra Township, north of Johannesburg, were hardly in class because of teacher squabbles.
In 2008, there was a row over teachers who were seen as lazy. The department fired 28 teachers from KwaBhekilanga Secondary School, which obtained a 45.9% matric pass rate in 2007. The pass rate dropped to 27.7% in 2009. In 2010, they got 49% and it increased to 70.6% last year.
Parents in the township, not unions, had taken charge. It was decided that decisions in schools would be made jointly by parents and teachers. They said the union would have minimal say in school affairs. As a result, the community was able to turnaround their schools. Now teachers are in class and on time.
The opposite is happening more than 40km away from Alexandra - in Soweto. The Sadtu Johannesburg central branch is the union's biggest branch with more than 10000 members. The union wields a lot of power in that region - and they know it.
Teachers and especially principals live in fear of the union. What the union says is gospel. There are a number of instances where the union has dictated to the Department of Basic Education who to appoint as principals.
Meadowlands Secondary School does not have a principal after Moss Senye was suspended last year. He is currently facing criminal charges for assaulting a pupil who was apparently disruptive in class. Every time he went to court, schooling in Soweto came to a standstill because all the teachers went to court to support him.
Gauteng's department of education appointed George Maluleke as caretaker principal, but he has not been able to run the school because Sadtu and the National Association of School Governing Bodies are objecting to his appointment.
Last year, pupils were locked out of the school, demanding the reinstatement of Senye and co-accused teacher Fancy Phehle.
The school obtained 52.2% in 2009, 56.7% in 2010 and 58% last year.
Last year, Gauteng MEC of education, Barbara Creecy, said that the average matric pass rate of Soweto schools was 63% in 2010, compared to a provincial average of 79%. In 2009, it was 58% compared to a provincial average of 72%.
Soweto schools have better resources than schools in Alexandra, but their results are totally different, due to the level of commitment of the teachers. Teachers in Alex decided to put the pupils education first, unlike their Soweto counterparts.
There is therefore a link between the performance of schools - or lack thereof - and the strength of Sadtu. Where Sadtu wields greater power, for example in Eastern Cape and in Soweto, the results are terrible. And where the union has taken a back seat as in Alex, the results speak for themselves.
Declaring the profession an essential service would be a recognition by the government that education is in a crisis and it needs to be fixed for the sake of the pupils.
- Monama is education reporter
Tale of two townships
How unions cripple education
THE National Youth Development Agency caused controversy two weeks ago when it proposed that teaching be declared an essential service.
Predictably, the biggest murmurs came from the teacher unions who wield a lot of power in schools.
The South African Democratic Teachers Union's (Sadtu) general secretary Mugwena Maluleke said the call "was naive, attention-seeking and shows little understanding of the inequalities in education".
If teaching is declared an essential service, the Labour Relations Act will treat teachers like health care workers. This means the law would have to be amended to limit their right to strike and "any conduct in contemplation or in furtherance of a strike".
South Africa's education system is in a crisis, with pupils failing in large numbers. Excuses for this abound. Lack of resources and support from the department are among those often cited by teachers.
But at the core of improving the system is a committed teaching force.
Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, has been silent on the suggestion that unions should be prevented from striking. She was one of the founding members of Sadtu, the biggest union, in 1990. So, could it be the reason why she would be reluctant to tame the power of the organisation she helped to establish.
Sadtu are signatories to the Quality Learning and Teaching Campaign which affirms that teachers should be on time, on task, prepared and conduct themselves professionally.
The code also compels the Department of Education to provide all the necessary resources for highly qualified and supported teachers and infrastructure that is essential to effective teaching and learning.
But are teachers abiding to the contract? Pupils in some schools in the Eastern Cape - the worst performing province in the country - have not been taught since schools opened this year. Teachers in the province have been on a go-slow for reasons that no one can understand other than mere politicking at the expense of pupils. It does not help that the department is run by maverick Modidima Mannya, who is consistently at loggerheads with the provincial Sadtu leadership which campaigned for his employment in the first place.
A few years ago, pupils in schools in Alexandra Township, north of Johannesburg, were hardly in class because of teacher squabbles.
In 2008, there was a row over teachers who were seen as lazy. The department fired 28 teachers from KwaBhekilanga Secondary School, which obtained a 45.9% matric pass rate in 2007. The pass rate dropped to 27.7% in 2009. In 2010, they got 49% and it increased to 70.6% last year.
Parents in the township, not unions, had taken charge. It was decided that decisions in schools would be made jointly by parents and teachers. They said the union would have minimal say in school affairs. As a result, the community was able to turnaround their schools. Now teachers are in class and on time.
The opposite is happening more than 40km away from Alexandra - in Soweto. The Sadtu Johannesburg central branch is the union's biggest branch with more than 10000 members. The union wields a lot of power in that region - and they know it.
Teachers and especially principals live in fear of the union. What the union says is gospel. There are a number of instances where the union has dictated to the Department of Basic Education who to appoint as principals.
Meadowlands Secondary School does not have a principal after Moss Senye was suspended last year. He is currently facing criminal charges for assaulting a pupil who was apparently disruptive in class. Every time he went to court, schooling in Soweto came to a standstill because all the teachers went to court to support him.
Gauteng's department of education appointed George Maluleke as caretaker principal, but he has not been able to run the school because Sadtu and the National Association of School Governing Bodies are objecting to his appointment.
Last year, pupils were locked out of the school, demanding the reinstatement of Senye and co-accused teacher Fancy Phehle.
The school obtained 52.2% in 2009, 56.7% in 2010 and 58% last year.
Last year, Gauteng MEC of education, Barbara Creecy, said that the average matric pass rate of Soweto schools was 63% in 2010, compared to a provincial average of 79%. In 2009, it was 58% compared to a provincial average of 72%.
Soweto schools have better resources than schools in Alexandra, but their results are totally different, due to the level of commitment of the teachers. Teachers in Alex decided to put the pupils education first, unlike their Soweto counterparts.
There is therefore a link between the performance of schools - or lack thereof - and the strength of Sadtu. Where Sadtu wields greater power, for example in Eastern Cape and in Soweto, the results are terrible. And where the union has taken a back seat as in Alex, the results speak for themselves.
Declaring the profession an essential service would be a recognition by the government that education is in a crisis and it needs to be fixed for the sake of the pupils.
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