Cape Town - A plan to privatise public schools in poor areas has been introduced by the Western Cape Education Department, raising the ire of national teacher unions.
While the South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) has accused the department of using taxpayers’ money to privatise five schools as part of its pilot project, the National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa) and the SA Teachers’ Union (Satu) also have concerns.
The department has created a new model of school, called collaboration schools, where donors, made up of a group of private foundations, play a significant role in the day-to-day running of the school.
The five schools are Oranjekloof Primary School and Silikamva High School, both in Hout Bay, Eerste River Primary School, Happy Valley Primary School and Langa High.
In instances where the collaboration schools are new schools, teachers will be employed by the school governing bodies, instead of the department, and in the case of existing schools, they will continue to be employed by the department .
Jessica Shelver, spokeswoman for Western Cape Education MEC Debbie Schäfer, said underperforming schools and schools serving marginalised communities will partner with a “partner committed to increasing the quality of teaching and learning in that school in order to substantially improve the school’s educational outcomes”.
Representatives from the partners will serve on the schools’ governing bodies.
“The governing body will fulfil all the functions and duties imposed on the governing body by virtue of statute in conjunction with the partner until termination of the pilot period.
“The governing body will receive additional support, monetary or otherwise, from the donor group to improve education outcomes at the school.”
Sadtu provincial secretary Jonavon Rustin recently sent a letter to provincial education head, Penny Vinjevold, in which he asked for clarity on a range of concerns raised by the union’s members.
“Our members have informed the union that the WCED and the premier’s office is in the process of opening private schools run by business consortiums on public land or what was supposed to be public schools,” he wrote. “We have also been apprised that salaries will be transferred from the WCED to the consortium, which will employ the staff as SGB appointees. There is something seriously wrong; first, public funds are used to build a school just to be transferred to a private consortium to manage and control; second, taxpayers’ money is transferred to private consortiums to employ educators.”
He said the union believed the provisions of the SA Schools Act and the Public Finance Management Act were being violated. “This is further an aim to privatise education with public funds.”
He told the Cape Argus he had not received a response to his letter, which he sent on October 21. “Basically, what the department is doing is diluting the powers of governing bodies and giving these to donors.”
Naptosa provincial chairman Moses Standaar said the organisation’s concerns had been raised in a meeting with the department after seeing an advert for posts at one of the new schools that would form part of the pilot project.
Satu provincial secretary, Morné Janson, said there was a “different set of rules” when employed by a governing body, compared with being employed by the department.
Teachers appointed by the department are appointed in terms of the Employment of Educators Act, while teachers employed by governing bodies are employed in terms of the Labour Relations Act and the Basic Conditions of Employment Act.
Teachers at the new schools will be appointed on contract and Janson said they will have to consider benefits such as pension when considering leaving a post with the department to join one of the new pilot schools on contract.
Shelver said: “The unions have communicated with the head of department on this matter. Furthermore, the WCED has consulted the governing bodies of schools, principals and educators at the relevant schools. Educators have a right, in terms of the constitution, to be part of a union and therefore it is the prerogative of members to consult their unions.”
The project will start next year and is expected to continue for five years, depending on the performance of the partners and the school. Shelver said the participating schools had volunteered to be part of the project.
The project will also aim to strengthen public school governance and accountability, and develop teachers.
Cape Argus
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