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The Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, and the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) are wrong about the National Development Plan’s recommendations to improve education.

Their resistance to the NDP’s call for competency tests for teachers, performance-based pay and the non-interference of unions in the appointment and promotion of teachers and officials constitutes an unprincipled obstruction to achieving educational excellence for South African schools. The Democratic Alliance (DA) supports these proposals by the NDP and is hopeful that they will become national government policy soon.

The DA has already pushed to institute these ideas in the Western Cape. They offer the most predictable forms of leverage for enhancing performance in the education system. Competency tests encourage teachers to stay on top of their subjects and ensure students enjoy high-quality teaching and marking. Performance-based pay rewards teachers who achieve outstanding results in the classroom through their preparation, care and dedication. And the removal of union interference from administrative decisions – such as appointments and promotions – allows schools to be run on rational, not political, lines. These recommendations make sense.

We applaud the National Planning Commission for having the courage to make these recommendations at a national level. Minister Motshekga needs to recognise that our education system cannot continue along its current trajectory. We need better ideas and practices aimed at improving accountability and efficiency – two qualities that are currently lacking in our education system.

The fact that the Minister and SADTU have joined forces to fight against higher standards for our children’s schools is a worrying development. The DA feels that they should rather think deeply about the NDP’s recommendations before dismissing them for political reasons.