Cape Times

WCED seeks to interdict two unions over tests

- Francesca Villette francesca.villette@inl.co.za

THE Western Cape High Court is expected to hear an applicatio­n today to interdict the South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) and the Congress of South African Students (Cosas) from disrupting systemic tests.

The applicatio­n was brought by the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) after disruption­s and protest action at several schools halted their participat­ion in the evaluation.

The tests, which assess the language and maths skills of pupils in grades 3, 6, and 9, concluded yesterday, but because some schools did not participat­e, WCED spokespers­on Bronagh Casey said they would have to write.

To stop further disruption, the applicatio­n was brought forward, Casey said.

Education MEC Debbie Schäfer said: “Sadtu has actively sought to disrupt the tests at more than 100 schools so far. The tests tell schools and the department exactly what to do to improve language and mathematic­s skills in our schools… Given this objective, Sadtu’s call to boycott the tests is a direct attack on the rights of children, poor children in particular.”

Sadtu deputy provincial secretary Sibongile Kwazi said the union would oppose the interdict as it believed that intended interventi­on programmes to address issues found after testing were either not implemente­d, or the time allocated for programmes is not sufficient.

“We maintain that pupils are overtested, and we will continue to call for the boycott of the tests,” Kwazi said.

Cosas provincial chairperso­n Michael Mayalo said even if an interdict was granted, they would press ahead with their efforts to disrupt the assessment­s.

“Cosas is not stepping down, and we will make sure that when they (pupils) write, we will organise. If they arrest us, we will shut down all schools in the province. We are not consulting any lawyers because our position is firm,” Mayalo said.

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