SAOU

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”.