‘No agreement reached on ANAs’

Photo: Shanti Aboobaker

Photo: Shanti Aboobaker

Published Nov 25, 2015

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Cape Town – The Department of Basic Education on Wednesday hit back at accusations by teacher unions that it had walked away from an agreement to postpone the controversial Annual National Assessment (ANA) for pupils.

The South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu), National Professional Teachers Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa), the Professional Educators Union (PEU) and the National Teachers Union (Natu) had earlier on Wednesday charged that by reneging on an agreement with unions to postpone the ANAs, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga had shown that she did not have the interests of pupils at heart.

“We reject these latest attempts by the minister, despite an agreement that she had reached with unions. We are shocked that the department has decided to walk away from the agreement,” Sadtu secretary Mugwena Maluleke told reporters at a joint media briefing on the sidelines of the Congress of SA Trade Unions’ (Cosatu) elective congress in Johannesburg.

The unions vowed that no teacher would administer the ANAs which were set to get underway at schools this week.

Two months ago Motshekga had announced the postponement of the ANAs to February next year after the teacher unions threatened to boycott invigilation of tests due to take place now. However, the unions are aggrieved at what they see as an about-turn by the minister after an announcement that the assessments would go ahead as planned between 26 November and 4 December this year.

In a statement on Wednesday afternoon, the department said it could confirm that a circular has been issued to schools instructing them to administer the assessments at a time that was convenient for them to do so between the 26th of November 2015 and the 4th of December 2015.

“This comes after a mediation process between the DBE and teacher trade unions did not culminate in an agreement being signed.”

The department said: “The mediation process which took place over the course of 31 meetings concluded with a draft agreement on 19 November 2015 and had to be considered by the principals of those parties involved for signature on 23 November 2015. The CEM (Council for Education Ministers which includes the minister, deputy minister and all provincial education MECs) welcomed and accepted all the aspects of the draft agreement except for making the administration of ANA voluntary.

“Unions insisted on this while on the other hand CEM was of the view that this constituted such a fundamental difference that it collapsed the draft agreement,” the department added. “The DBE could not agree to this term.

“The Minister of Basic Education did not walk away from the mediation process. On Friday last week the DBE was ready to sign the draft agreement which would have seen only 2 100 schools writing the assessments, however at that point the new condition of voluntary participation was insisted upon and the mediation process was jeopardised.”

The department added: “It is our considered view that the mediation process went well overall and we would like to appreciate the role played by all stakeholders and in particular the mediator, Mr Charles Nupen.

“It must be clearly articulated that the mediation process was entered into as a means to ensure peace and stability in the sector. The administration of ANA is a curriculum issue not a labour issue, however after meeting with various stakeholders in the sector the Minister felt it best to try to reach consensus with our teacher trade unions on this matter in a bid to find an amicable solution to the impasse. It is unfortunate that no agreement could be reached through the mediation process.”

The department described the assessments as an “important diagnostic tool used to identify and remediate challenges in the sector”.

“We have agreed with teacher unions that there is a need to reform the current model of the assessments and have invited teacher unions to work with the Department to make recommendations based on their experiences in this regard.”

The department said it would not be making any further comments on the issue “as we do not wish to engage in a public spat with teacher trade unions”.

The unions had earlier accused the department of “destabilising the education sector” and added that it was “clear that ANAs for 2015 have been compromised as it has no credibility”.

“We are left with no other decision but to revert to our initial decision to not administer ANAs.”

The unions called on all 400 000 teachers in the sector to stand firm and to not administer the ANAs.

African News Agency

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