SGBs ‘whites-only’ posts

“THE recently proposed amendments to the South African Schools Act and the Educators’ Employment Act take public education back to the pre-1994 era”, JC Klopper (chief executive of the South African Teachers’ Union) wrote in the Cape Argus, when arguing for prevention of “state capture” of our schools (Cape Argus).

Satu and Klopper view the proposals as a step backward, and their greatest worry is that the appointment of promotion posts in schools will be taken out of the hands of the school governing bodies (SGBs).

The question should be: What have the school governing bodies been doing for the past 20 years or more? The schools Klopper really worries about, concern the former model C schools.

In Oudtshoorn, where I reside, the complaint against school governing bodies of these schools was that their practice of appointing only white teachers, while the demography of the learners of these schools is blatantly ignored (reflecting pre1994 sentiments?)

When this complaint was laid to the officials of the Western Cape Department of Education, they also reflected concern and disapproval of this abnormal, whites-only personnel appointments in schools reflecting normal learner demography.

However, these officials confirm that they cannot interfere, due to the autonomy of the school governing bodies on personnel appointments.

This orchestrated, exclusive, dishonourable situation, with young, white teachers only appointed while the learners are reflecting the normal demography of our society, is an obvious and wilful practice of a “school capture” agenda by certain school governing bodies.

This is psychologically unhealthy for the coloured and black learners, at a young age subconsciously and falsely being primed that skin colour is associated with professionalism.

The same subconscious psychological impact takes place on the young white learners. It has been going on for more than 20 years under the guise of the school governing body autonomy.

Fairness does not lay in a quota system or in a demonisation of the current white personnel, but simply in a more sensitive, inclusive approach, honesty and sincerity by school governing bodies when appointing new staff members.

I plead to Klopper’s union: take hands with other education unions and partners to also fight this agenda of perceived racist, psychologically harmful “school capture” by school governing bodies with the same energy and veracity as their present attempt to prevent “state capture” of our schools. CLIFFORD VAN WYK Oudtshoorn