Nedlac has come to the negotiation table with a proposal which could keep teachers in their classrooms, reports Sechaba ka’Nkosi
A last-minute proposal tabled by the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) to the government and the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) could prevent the country’s biggest teacher strike next week.
The strike – the first ever to be supported by all unions in the education sector – threatens to destabilise the country’s mid-year exams and could have an impact on the performance of millions of pupils.
The Nedlac proposal suggests a two- pronged approach to the education crisis: a new permanent structure for all parties to plan education budgets; and a moratorium on retrenchments of temporary teachers while independent mediators continue negotiations between provinces and teacher unions.
According to Nedlac insiders, the strategy is aimed at opening channels of communication between the government and teacher unions, sharing information and drafting guidelines on how similar crises can be handled in the future without a resolve to strike.
The proposal aims to re-open negotiations on the determination of class sizes and the impending retrenchment of 43 000 temporary teachers – the two key issues that have put the Ministry of Education at loggerheads with Sadtu, the National Association of Professional Teachers of South Africa (Naptosa) and the Suid- Afrikaanse Onderwysers’ Unie.
The proposal faces its stiffest test on Monday, when Minister of Education Sibusiso Bengu meets Sadtu to discuss the impasse.
The giant union has already made it clear that it will accept nothing less than a moratorium on retrenchments and the review of a constitutional clause that leaves provinces with the sole responsibility of implementing national education policies.
Sadtu representative Kate Skinner says the withdrawal of legislation regulating teacher-pupil ratios and the moratorium on retrenchments are “non-negotiables” for the union. “If the ministry cannot enforce norms and standards at a national level, it means there is no political will on its part to deal with discrepancies and the legacy that apartheid left behind in education.”
Sadtu’s stubbornness stems from its perception that the bloated education bureaucracy consumes a significant percentage of the government’s wage bill for educators and is responsible for the growing teacher-pupil ratio.
A recent report by the University of the Witwatersrand’s education policy unit accuses the education ministry and its bureaucracy of incompetence and of creating new inequalities in education instead of addressing problems.
The report says a school survey conducted recently showed that 67% of all schools have no reading material, while the government continues to pay nearly 10 000 “ghost” teachers in KwaZulu-Natal and the Northern Province. Sadtu says if the survey were to be conducted in other provinces, this figure could be much higher.
The report argues that a lack of clear data on educators has led to an increase in inequalities within communities – with poorer provinces facing a possible collapse of the education system as a result.
It also challenges reports that the 1998/99 budget has increased government spending on education by at least 10% compared to last year. It says the combined national and provincial spend for the current year is estimated at R45,3-billion, or a 4% increase over last year’s total spend.
A further R200-million from policy reserves has been allocated in the form of conditional grants to provinces for education management and teacher development. Taking inflation into account, the national allocation for education has effectively declined by 2,2% in real terms.
“The argument we are raising is that cutting teachers could be a solution in the short term that could lead to worse fatalities in the long term,” says co- author of the report and senior education policy unit researcher Salim Vally.
The report also points to rampant corruption in provincial departments as one of the reasons why some provinces have been unable to increase their spending on essentials such as textbooks, teacher support material and the upgrading of existing schools.
This high educator cost, argues Vally, includes departmental officials. “It is by no means certain whether the salaries of the bureaucracy are a negligible contribution to overall costs.”
Nedlac’s proposal this week also addresses Sadtu’s challenge to the constitutional compromise that was agreed upon between political parties before the 1994 elections, which gave provinces more powers to determine budgetary allocations, and continuing budgetary cuts by the Ministry of Finance.
The proposal calls for the inclusion of other parties, such as youth organisations, in the formulation of education policies.
Nedlac sources say both the government and Sadtu delegations endorsed the proposal in principle at a meeting on Wednesday.
The government delegation was led by senior education officials Duncan Hindle and Trevor Coombe, while the Sadtu delegation consisted of senior negotiators and members of the union’s national executive committee.
Sadtu gave Bengu until Monday to come up with a solution to the crisis that has gripped the education sector over the past few weeks, or face a multi- pronged industrial action that could threaten his future as minister.
A previous strike planned for late March was aborted after the government threatened to interdict and dismiss Sadtu members for not following correct legal procedures.
This time, Bengu has warned teachers he will apply the principle of no work, no pay should the unions continue with strike plans.
Says a Nedlac insider: “At the moment let us say indications are positive that we might come up with an acceptable solution which can bring long-term stability in the education sector. We can no longer afford a situation where we are going to face a possibility of a teachers’ strike every year.”
If agreed upon, the first phase of the Nedlac proposal will be implemented within the next two weeks. The rest is expected to be in operation within six months.
A senior African National Congress official warned that Bengu enjoyed the support of the party. “We believe public support is with Bengu and not the teachers. The ANC firmly opposes strike action, and believes Sadtu is split, and that the union is well aware that the worst thing it can do is strike – the quickest way to destroy a union,” he said.
The ANC also accepts that forced job losses are necessary, and that when push comes to shove the leadership of both the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party will stand by it.