Cape Town - The powers of school governing bodies may be curtailed even further if the recommendations by a ministerial task team - which investigated allegations that teaching posts were being sold - come into effect.
One of the moves put forward in the so-called Jobs for Cash report is that governing bodies should no longer have the authority to make recommendations for the appointment of teachers to senior posts.
The task team, led by Professor John Volmink, was established by Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga after allegations in the media that some members of teacher unions and education officials were involved in illegal activities involving the selling of teaching posts.
It has also recommended that principals be selected by panels, “which have the resources to evaluate the competence and suitability of the candidates for their leadership and management as well as their academic, experiential and professional abilities”.
Other recommendations include that the Department of Basic Education regain control of administering and managing the education system in all provinces so that clear distinctions are established between the roles and functions of the Department and the concerns of teachers’ unions, and that it should not be possible for a person to be promoted to principal from a post-level 1 (entry-level) position.
It also recommended the illegal actions by teachers identified by the task team be reported to the police, and that action be taken to protect whistle-blowers.
Eighty-one cases were investigated, 38 of which provided grounds for reasonable suspicion or wrongdoing. None of these cases were in the Western Cape.
In a statement following the release of the report, the Department of Basic Education said: “(The) Report of the Ministerial Task Team on the selling of posts highlights a lack of consistency and understanding of school governing body members regarding appointment systems and procedures.
“These challenges require the Department to reform laws regarding appointments in the basic education sector.”
The National Professional Teachers’ Organisation said the recommendation to remove school governing bodies from the appointment process for certain post levels was problematic.
The union’s president, Dr Anthea Cereseto, said while it was acknowledged that governing bodies had been guilty of corrupt practices, there were also governing bodies that had been managing the process of appointment successfully.
Western Cape Education MEC Debbie Schafer said many of the recommendations in the report had already been observed in the Western Cape for the past couple of years.
“We fully support the recommendation that cadre deployment be abolished.
“We also believe that school governing bodies should not easily be deprived of powers.”