Sadtu lauds teachers, slams department head

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Johannesburg - The SA Democratic Teachers Union on Wednesday commended teachers for their contribution towards the improved matric pass rate, while slamming department of basic education director general Bobby Soobrayan.

“We again commend our teachers for their hard work against the odds with no leadership from director general Bobby Soobrayan,” the union said in a statement.

“His continued undermining of collective bargaining will demoralise teachers and is a recipe for labour unrest.”

The union said teachers had worked to improve marks despite having “very little training” from the department.

Sadtu said there should also be more training and development for school governing bodies and local administrators to improve education.

“We call on the employer to invest in an intensive school leadership training programme targeting school management teams and principals in particular,” Sadtu said.

The National Professional Teachers' Organisation of SA (Naptosa) also commended teachers for the improved pass rates and also called on more training.

“Teachers need to be further empowered through effective professional development strategies designed to meet their individual needs,” said Naptosa president Basil Manuel.

Sadtu said there was also a lack of facilities, and improvements to maths and sciences had been achieved despite a shortage of laboratories.

Sadtu added that students with an African home language had extra challenges.

The union criticised the Western Cape for being the only province to see a drop in its matric pass rate, to 82.8 percent from 82.9 percent.

“While this looks minimal we must emphasise that at stake is the lives of our children and under no circumstances must a drop of any kind be acceptable,” Sadtu said.

The union commended the other eight provinces for improving their pass rates.

Naptosa said the improved rate was also partly due to “winter and spring” schools held outside the normal academic year.

“These practices should not become the norm. Teachers must be responsible for quality teaching and learning in their classrooms throughout the year,” Manuel said. - Sapa