Sadtu protests over vacant teaching posts

09.05.2016 SADTU KZN members held a picketing outside the Pinetown Education district yesterday at Chapel Street demanding the scrap of Peter Morkel model to which is implemented at schools. Picture: Motshwari Mofokeng

09.05.2016 SADTU KZN members held a picketing outside the Pinetown Education district yesterday at Chapel Street demanding the scrap of Peter Morkel model to which is implemented at schools. Picture: Motshwari Mofokeng

Published May 10, 2016

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Durban - Teacher union Sadtu has embarked on an indefinite picket outside the KwaZulu-Natal education department’s district offices, demanding the urgent filling of teacher posts around the province.

The pickets will take place at lunchtime and will be attended, apparently, only by union leaders from the different schools.

The first picket took place outside the Pinetown district offices of the department yesterday, where about 50 leaders of the Sadtu eThekwini North region, sang and held up posters for about an hour from noon.

The department’s offices were locked with handcuffs and no officials exited the offices as the union leaders sang and danced to struggle songs.

The union will embark on a provincial picket in Pietermaritzburg and a national picket in Pretoria on May 13 and 27 respectively.

KwaZulu-Natal Education said it would meet with the union this week to discuss solutions.

Sadtu’s eThekwini North secretary, Zakhele Gumede, said the picket did not disrupt teaching and learning at schools, and said only union leaders at the schools were present at the picket.

Holding placards that read “ANC establish a stable model to retain teacher movement”, “Peter Morkel model must be abolished” and “over-classes are a health hazard” - the union wants the department to address the post provisional norms policy which determines the allocation of how many teachers each school gets.

Researcher Peter Morkel devised the post provisional norms method that was later adopted by the department.

“It is true that at our schools we are teaching mass meetings. We get more and more learners at schools,” he said.

Gumede said the last ANC elective conference in Mangaung resolved that there was a need to review the post provisional norms.

“The educator to learner ratio is too high. There are schools where there are as many as 60 children in one classroom, but nothing is being done,” he said.

KZN Education spokesman, Muzi Mahlambi, said they were taking the issue seriously and that principals who over enrolled pupils had been reprimanded. “We always say that while education gets the biggest slice of the budget, there is still the challenge that a bulk of the budget goes to paying teacher salaries,” he said.

Mahlambi said the sub-committee on staffing at the Education Labour Relations Council was also looking into the matter of post provisional norms.

Meanwhile, Sadtu national secretary Mugwena Maluleke has slammed the Democratic Alliance for its claim that the union had captured education at six provinces and that the union was bullying Minister Angie Motshekga.

This after news that the minister had delayed the release of the cash for jobs report to within the next two weeks to further engage stakeholders.

“Despite it being clear that the numerous decisions to postpone the release of the report of Ministerial Task Team is that of the minister, and the minister alone, the DA has once more singled out Sadtu for attack as part of its political campaign against the ANC and seeks to use the union as an entry point.

“The attack on the Minister suggesting that she is captured by Sadtu is nothing more than a racist rant suggesting that the Minister cannot think for herself,” said Maluleka.

DA education spokesman Gavin Davis hit back and said it was Sadtu that had no respect for black pupils.

“The reality is that the Sadtu leadership has no respect for black children. It is poor, mainly black, children who suffer when teaching posts are sold by Sadtu members to Sadtu members for R 30 000,” he said.

Daily News

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