Lame antics by Umalusi

TOO many leaders act as if the sheep ... their people ... are there for the benefit of the shepherd, not that the shepherd has responsibility for the sheep, author Ken Blanchard once wrote.

So true of Umalusi (shepherd in English), the country's quality assurer of general and further education, which seems to have forgotten for whom it performs this crucial task.

Worse, Umalusi showed their disrespect for Parliament's basic education committee's oversight role this week by stubbornly refusing to divulge exactly how it adjusted matric results.

When a statutory body like Umalusi digs in its heels as stridently as it did before the committee, who in fact is it responsible for when it elects to withhold information even from public representatives?

Is it a case of Umalusi shepherding itself and changing marks at will without regard for parliamentary scrutiny?

Problem is the more Umalusi does the egg dance and continues to hide behind confidentiality, an arbitrary defence anyway, the more it opens the matric results to further doubt and putting its own integrity in question.

What it claims is sensitive information has actually galvanised the public and education stakeholders to be more curious about its processes.

We will not be a winning nation when our education quality assurer diffidently opposes calls for transparency and shies away from subjecting its decisions to public examination.

Are we witnessing a case of a reckless shepherd making excellent dinner for the wolf?