Minister in the Presidency Trevor Manuel launched a blistering attack on some teacher unions that destabilise the education system and pursue their own interests.
Manuel, the keynote speaker at the 2010 National Teaching Awards gala held at the Presidential Guesthouse on February 25, said “some teacher unions have become part of the problems” that are bedevilling the education system.
Manuel said the role of teacher unions should go beyond representing their members against unfair labour practices and they should emulate their counterparts overseas who strive for professionalism and improving the quality of teaching.
He said teacher unions should be about promoting the quality of education, supporting weaker schools, providing professional advice and counsel to poorly performing schools and teachers, and they should also not baulk at taking drastic measures against rogue elements who besmirch the profession.
District and provincial departments also came in for a roasting. Manuel said some districts and provinces are run in “ways that undermine and frustrate the best efforts of schools instead of complementing them”.
Manuel said some provinces have still not delivered books to schools this year” and “in one province and some districts feeding schemes have collapsed due to mismanagement”.
He also pointed out some of the challenges facing the education system, including serious gaps in the teaching of maths and science, low levels of literacy and numeracy, poor levels of teacher competency and skills, inadequate and poor infrastructure and a poor culture of teaching and learning in some schools.