BusinessDay.gif Teachers quit class to oppose tests Penelope Mashego, Business Day, Johannesburg, 27 November 2015 Teachers have taken their frustrations at the annual national assessments to the streets after drawn-out talks with the Department of Basic Education came to naught. The department began administering the tests on Thursday despite an earlier tentative agreement to have the assessments written in February. The teachers also argued that it was pointless to proceed with the tests when school holidays were already in full swing. Teachers across Mpumalanga left their classrooms and took to the streets on Thursday to voice their anger at the department, while unions have encouraged members to boycott the tests. South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) secretary in Mpumalanga Walter Hlaise said on Thursday that teachers had started protesting on Wednesday and would continue on Friday. "Protests were held all over. The department won't admit that it is losing the war (on the assessments) and downplays successful protests," he said. Department of Basic Education spokesman Elijah Mahlangu said it was not surprised by the protest. Mr Mahlangu said: "It was expected because the tone was set (by teacher unions) on Wednesday at Gallagher Estate", where organised labour reiterated its anti-assessment stance. The teachers had the right to protest, but would have to explain their actions, he added. Mr Mahlangu said the tests were going according to plan at most schools in the province and the rest of the country, despite unions' calls for a boycott. SADTU, the National Professional Teachers Organisation of SA (NAPTOSA), Suid-Afrikaanse Onderwysunie, the National Teachers Union and the Professional Educators Union said in a joint statement on Wednesday that their members would boycott the tests. NAPTOSA president Basil Manuel said: "High school pupils are (on holiday)." SADTU spokeswoman Nomusa Cembi said pupils "are not negatively affected" if they did not write the tests. From: <http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/education/2015/11/27/teachers-quit-class-t o-oppose-tests> http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/education/2015/11/27/teachers-quit-class-to -oppose-tests -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "YCLSA Discussion Forum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
