In a province that always lags behind in matric results every year, the Eastern Cape Education Department held an awards ceremony at the Osner Hotel, East London on Thursday to recognise innovation and excellence in teaching.
Racial tension between the ‘Coloured’ community of Klipspruit and ‘African’ teachers sparked a huge debate around blackness. The source of the tension was the appointment of a new principal at Klipspruit West High. Soon the tensions spread to Eldorado Park, leading to the withdrawal by the teacher’s union, SADTU, of its members from work.
After much criticism on their silence and failure to participate in previous public demonstrations against state capture and corruption, the Congress of the South African Trade Unions and its affiliates finally came out to make their voices heard.
The proposal to amend a bill that could allow for the selling of alcohol on school premises, has not been welcomed by many in the Western Cape Province. This is after the provincial Department of Education proposed this bill as a means of raising funds for schools. Elitsha asked some of the different parties for their views on the matter.
The education system is in crisis. Senior educator posts in some schools have been sold by unscrupulous union members, often working together with education department officials; recent studies reveal that many teachers responsible for tuition in English do not even have the vocabulary expected of grade three learners; and, in many schools, less than half the curriculum is covered by the end of every year.
These are carefully researched facts. Yet, when the ‘posts for sale’ scandal surfaced again last week, the reaction by the SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (SADTU) was denial, accompanied by often vociferous accusations of political conspiracies and “union bashing”.
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