Teachers’ union accepts extra tests

Boycott leads to court order

THE South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) says it has accepted “for now” that additional testing of pupils in the Western Cape should go ahead. The union had been at loggerheads with the Western Cape Education Department over the systematic evaluation tests, which are written annually in the province. It accused the department of using the results to “blame and shame” schools in the province which performed poorly.

In a statement, the union admitted to having last year called on its members to boycott the tests, “after months of failed discussions” with the department. The boycotts resulted in at least 81 schools not undertaking the prescribed evaluations. But the union was subsequently forced to smoke the proverbial peace pipe with education officials after the department instituted legal action against it.

“Sadtu’s active opposition led to unlawful actions taking place, following which the department obtained a court order,” Education MEC Debbie Schäfer said yesterday.

She said Sadtu was legally ordered not to disrupt the systemic tests commissioned by the department and that “they must take all reasonable steps to curb any unlawful conduct by their members”.

The department said that during the protests last year, testers were “prevented from entering some schools and that learners, teachers and principals were intimidated and prevented from writing the tests and property was in some cases damaged”.

Sadtu provincial secretary Jonavan Rustin said: “We must clarify that the call to boycott was not a directive to cause disruptions at the schools. It was a call for peaceful protests to highlight our displeasure with the over-testing of learners. We are going to have discussions about this issue going forward and will allow (the testing) to go ahead for now,” Rustin said.

Meanwhile, disciplinary action has been instituted against 123 Sadtu members who had allegedly taken part in the protests from October to December. Schäfer said: “We are of the view that, while trade unions have the right to represent their members in issues of mutual interest, this is not one of those matters. It is essential that education departments be allowed to make decisions that they believe are in the interests of education.

“We have had many discussions with all unions about the benefits of these tests to the department, a result of which we have been able to pinpoint areas of weakness that need interventions. I am pleased that Sadtu has now acknowledged the right of the education department to ensure that systemic tests are administered in the province, and that they have agreed to desist from any calls or actions that will lead to disruption in the future.”

“They (Sadtu) have also agreed that the department will continue administering systemic evaluations for the 81 schools that could not be covered in 2016,” Schäfer said. –

THE CALL TO BOYCOTT WAS NOT A DIRECTIVE FOR DISRUPTIONS