Tempers are rising in some education sectors over recent decisions which are being made without proper consultation, reports Julia Grey
The Department of Education (DoE) has been accused of bypassing consultative processes and simply delivering final decisions to stakeholders.
Both the South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) and the National Professional Teacher’s Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa) have complained about a so-called ”culture of unilateralism”.
Two recent developments have highlighted what some perceive as the department’s aggressive management style. The first was the disagreement between teacher unions and the DoE over leave, which has been declared a dispute to be resolved by the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council. The crux of the conflict is that agreements were reached last year that 10 days leave are due to educators working in public schools each year. However, this leave cannot be accumulated, and five days must be taken every six months. A circular sent out by the DoE in March, though, states that this leave may not be taken during term time, but only when schools are closed for the holidays. ”Five working days which fall within the Easter school closure period will be deemed as leave for institution-based educators,” the circular states.
Sadtu representative Hassen Lorgat argues that ”for time immemorial leave has been separate from school breaks”, and that this is another example of the government attempting to renegade on agreements reached with teacher unions. In a press statement, Sadtu members are called upon ”to destroy those circulars since they are not worth the ink they are written on”.
Late last month, the DoE’s plan to import Cuban teachers – once again without consulting key stakeholders – has similarly raised union hackles. Dave Balt from Naptosa says there are ”strong objections” to the plan. ”We are in the middle of a rationalisation and redeployment process, and our own expertise is not being utilised.”
Balt says there are further issues with this decision, such as how it will affect already low teacher morale, problems of language and cultural differences, and the fact that ”the decision is being made for political, and not educational, reasons.”
He adds that the lack of consultation in decisions such as these is ”a clear style that has developed within the department.”
DoE representative Molatwane Likhethe counters that ”We definitely do not believe in making unilateral decisions”, but that ”In the end it is the responsibility of the Department of Education to lead education in the country”.
— The Teacher/M&G Media, May 2001.
M&G Supplements