SADTU leadership to visit the Eastern Cape on a fact-finding mission regarding the non-implementation of Section 100 (1)(b)

Members of SADTU's National Working Committee (NWC) will, before the end of the week, descend on the Eastern Cape to receive a full briefing about the implementation of Section 100 (1)(b). Section 100 (1)(b) gives the national department of education powers to take over the running of education in the province.

This is one of the many decisions taken at the meeting of the National Executive Committee of SADTU held at her headquarters - Matthew Goniwe House in Johannesburg on Thursday.

In March this year, SADTU welcomed the decision of the national cabinet to invoke Section 100 1(b) as we had, since last year, been calling for the intervention from the National Department of Education in order to bring about stability in education in the Eastern Cape. However, five months later, no positive developments have been noted.

The NEC noted the trashing, mayhem and destruction caused by elements of this new tendency in the ANC Youth League outside Luthuli House in Johannesburg last week. The NEC strongly condemned the behavior because it is aimed at discrediting our movement in order to advance the narrow accumulation interests of tenderpreneurs. All genuine members of our movement must respect the internal processes and denounce anarchy and violence.

The NEC endorsed the decision of SADTU in Gauteng to condemn the learners who took part in the demonstrations and called for principles and not personalities to be defended at all times. We reiterate our unqualified support and active participation in the Quality Learning and Teaching Campaign in all our schools.

The NEC further noted the rising tendency by the media and the unelected minority to use the courts and the constitution to rule the country by challenging government decisions and the leftist rhetoric calling for nationalization when it is in fact, pursuing a right wing agenda. These liberals are now calling for the amendment of the Constitution to undermine the State President and impose their conservative values on all of us.

The only sections of the Constitution that must be amended without any delay are those dealing with property rights so that the unequal property relations in our country and the growing class inequalities are eradicated once and for all. We support the call by the only vanguard of the working class, the SACP that not in our name and that of our people. To this end the NEC took a decision to develop programmes to respond to these tendencies.

The NEC reiterated its opposition to competency tests for matric exam markers and the performance contracts for principals that were introduced in the Western Cape.

SADTU Western Cape made an appeal to the NEC that the NWC engage with the national department of basic education on the matter. If it was still not resolved, SADTU would call on all members in the province not to mark matric scripts at the end of the year.

The Western Cape government should remember that it is not a federal state but is part of a unitary state and should therefore desists from taking decisions that affect teachers' conditions of service without any national agreement.

As the country celebrates September as the Heritage month, the NEC called for the popularization and development of indigenous languages to be languages of instruction. It is our firm view that competency in one's first language, has a positive influence on a learner's performance. SADTU will work closely with the Creative Workers Union of South Africa (CWUSA) to promote indigenous languages.

The NEC wishes our Rugby World Cup squad the best of luck in the World Cup.

Response to Centre for Development and Enterprise's Ann Bernstein

We refute assertion by the Executive Director of the Centre for Development and Enterprise Ann Bernstein that SADTU was holding back reform in education in South Africa. Delivering her report on schooling reform to the media, Bernstein said there was a need to curb the power the union has if South Africa is to improve its standards of teaching.

The report lacks any credibility and is part of the liberals who want workers gains to be reversed and this is campaign led by the opposition parties

From its inception in 1990, SADTU's goal was to fight to bring a free, non-racial, quality public education in South Africa and we haven't deviated from that goal.

SADTU is a legal union that is bound by the rules and regulations. Its powers are derived from legislation. We believe the teachers who do good and whose work go unnoticed because they are in far-flung of areas, are in the majority. If there are teachers who do not carry out their duties as required by the law, the department has all the powers to take the necessary recourse.

Fighting for the rights of teachers has unfortunately been misinterpreted to mean we take our interests to be above those of the learners. There is a balancing act between the rights of learners and teachers that has to be maintained. We have been on strikes - notably in 2007 and 2010 but immediately afterwards, SADTU led catch up programmes with weekend and winter school tuition for matrics. These programmes still continue today.

In fact the interests of the learners and teachers coincide, for instance:

• Adequate infrastructure and learning materials;
• Teacher development and support to improve the quality and learning;
• Need to work and learn in a safe and secure environment.

In line with our goal for better quality education, we have been calling for training and development of teachers and the re-opening of teacher colleges so that more teachers could be trained.

We are proud to say that we have been part and parcel of the Department's Integrated Strategic Planning Framework for Teacher Education and Development in South Africa launched in April. The programme emanate from the Teacher Development Summit held in 2009 in which SADTU played a major role.

We have, since 2008, committed ourselves to the Quality Learning and Teaching Campaign (QLTC) which calls on all stakeholders in education - teachers, learners, parents and the department of education to play their part in education.

Pointing fingers will not help to solve the crisis in education. What need is to have all stakeholders coming together to provide solutions.

Statement issued by SADTU General Secretary, Mugwena Maluleke, September 11 2011

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