The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) on Wednesday expressed concern about the state of education in South Africa.

"The quality of South African education leaves much to be desired," Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi told affiliate unions at its education and skills conference in Johannesburg.

He said that 70% of schools did not have libraries, 60% were without laboratories and 55% of teachers polled said they would leave the profession if they could.

The country was unable to compete with many African States on basic survival skills, he said.

"Take the example of Zimbabweans. When they arrive here they simply outperform their South African counterparts on many fronts. This reflects the superior education they receive.

"Our basic education and higher education, working together with the labour movement and the rest of society, has to ensure an improvement of education."

He said 60% of children are pushed out of the schooling system before they reach grade 12 - the matric year.

Earlier in his address he had urged workers and shop stewards to devise programmes for their skills development to right the inequities of apartheid.

One of the examples he gave was that because of apartheid's racist policies, many black people were not allowed to complete the longer four-year teaching course and were limited to lesser qualifications.

According to the conference's background document, "we would not be exaggerating if we were to say that our education system is in crisis".

Failures in the system have led to a feeling cynicism and powerlessness, the document continued.

It noted that many children go to school hungry and so can't learn properly, many schools are "unsafe, bleak uninspiring places where violence and abuse are rife".

Teachers are considered "miracle workers" with the sizes of class they have to manage even though the pupil teacher ratio has dropped from 43:1 in 1996 to 32:1 in 2006.

Gains included getting 98% of children between the ages of seven to 15 into school, 88% of six-year-olds and 70% of children between four and five entering their first year, Grade R.

"Teachers are the most important group of professionals in any society, since everything else depends on their dedication and effectiveness. Yet the quality of teacher education and professional development, as well as the levels of support for most teachers are grossly inadequate," according to the background paper.

Vavi said teachers must remember the agreement the South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) reached with the African National Congress: "that teachers are in school, in class, on time, teaching, that there is no abuse of learners and no neglect of duty".

Cosatu was concerned about a recent unprotected strike by
Sadtu-affiliated teachers in Soweto, which saw classes also disrupted in nearby Florida and Lenasia.

"We do recognise that whilst we are trade unionists, we are at the same time parents and therefore key stakeholders in the education system.

"The two-week long unprotected strike by Soweto educators recently has brought these discussions to the fore. We have asked for a meeting with the leadership of Sadtu in Soweto in order to receive a briefing on the purpose behind this unprotected strike."

Teachers are also currently awaiting news on the occupation specific dispensation which is intended to address their poor salaries. By Wednesday there was still a deadlock in negotiations between unions and government.