Sadtu, department set for ANAs crunch
THERE will be a “collision” between the Department of Basic Education and teacher unions if the Annual National Assessments (ANAs) proceed, the SA Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) warned yesterday.
At a joint media conference of Cosatu-affiliated unions in Pretoria, Cosatu’s Western Cape secretary, Tony Ehrenreich, called on pupils to resist participating in the assessments.
He said pupils should be asking for better resourced schools, smaller classes and better quality education instead of writing the ANAs, which the department spends about R200 million a year to roll out.
Sadtu provincial chairman Jonavon Rustin said its members were adamant they would have no involvement in the assessments and that there would be a “collision” come December, when the tests are due to be written.
“Teachers have indicated that they would not participate in the ANAs – this includes invigilating and marking of scripts. Teachers will remain strong and unified, and if the assessments go ahead in December, there will be a collision of paths,” Rustin warned.
The assessments cost the national department about R200m a year to roll out, Rustin pointed out.
Basic Education Department spokesman Elijah Mhlanga said there would be a collision only if the members who boycotted became violent or intimidated those who decided to participate in the assessments.
“Some of Sadtu’s members contacted (the department) and said they would go ahead with the ANAs,” Mhlanga said.
The department announced earlier that the assessments would be written in February next year. But last Friday, it announced they would take place from December 1 to 4.
The annual assessments, which test literacy and numeracy levels of pupils from grades 1 to 6 and Grade 9, are diagnostic tests intended to measure pupil performance and provide insight into which areas are in need of additional support.
At the end of last year, Grade 9 pupils nationally scored an average of less than 11 percent in maths.
Teacher unions Sadtu, the National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of SA, the Suid-Afrikaanse Onderwysersunie, the National Teachers Union and the Professional Educators Union have said they are not happy with the ANAs in their current form.