Cape Town - Cosatu and its teachers’ union have asked pupils in grades 10-12 and teachers to take a day off on Wednesday to join a march on Parliament to protest education inequality.
“We feel everyone must make a sacrifice of one day to highlight the inadequacy of their schools,” said Cosatu provincial secretary Tony Ehrenreich.
But Education MEC Donald Grant said this was not in the best interests of pupils.
Cosatu and the SA Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) told a media briefing in Salt River on Monday similar marches were to be held across the country to draw public attention to their call for the resignations of Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga and the department’s director-general, Bobby Soobrayan.
Union members were protesting because Motshekga had withdrawn from an agreement which would have increased the tariffs paid to markers and over the Limpopo textbook saga, school closures inthe Western Cape and inequality in education.
Jonovan Rustin, provincial secretary of Sadtu, said: “We need to start speaking about equality and equalisation of education, not only in the Western Cape, but in the country. “We can’t for decades on end have large class sizes. The infrastructure in our schools is poor. We have to take our plight to the public.”
Rustin said teachers had already discussed how they would make up the work missed. He said 4 000 to 5 000 teachers were expected to march.
The Department of Basic Education said “drastic action” would be taken against all teachers who joined Wednesday’s march, including losing the day’s pay.
Bronagh Casey, spokeswoman for Grant, said he was disappointed that teachers and pupils were being called to join the march.
“Once again, the best interests of learners are being placed at risk at what is for all of them a critical time in the academic year.
“As usual, everything will be done to minimise any disruption for the learners.”
NGO Equal Education and Archbishop Thabo Makgoba have announced details of an upcoming visit to the Eastern Cape to raise awareness about a crises in schools infrastructure.
Cape Times