Teachers will not administer the Annual National Assessment (ANA) despite the department of education saying it will go ahead, SA Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) vowed on Thursday.

"All the five [teacher] unions have said their members are not going to administer ANA, so all the teachers in the country will not administer ANA," Sadtu general secretary Mugwena Maluleke said.

"Since last Friday children have been told not to come to school. Teachers are busy with marking... and busy with the schedules so there is no teacher who is going to administer ANA."

Maluleke said teachers would only administer a "remodelled" national assessment.

"We have said it is not educationally sound, we have said it's not providing the necessary results that can really improve the quality of education in our country and therefore as professionals we have made that particular professional judgement and we are not going to administer anything that goes against our professional judgement."

The department of education on Wednesday said primary schools had been told in a circular that ANA tests are to be written from Thursday.

"All schools must do them between tomorrow [Thursday] and December 4. Schools must look at the practicalities, but they have to be written," department spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said.

The ANAs, which test literacy and numeracy, were initially scheduled to start in September. But teacher trade unions objected to them in their current format and asked that they be remodelled.

A task team was set up and a meditation process followed.

On September 18, it was announced that the Council of Education Ministers had decided that ANAs would be written from December 1 to 4.

Trade unions released a joint statement a few days later expressing their "shock and disapproval".

Maluleke said the department was being "arrogant" and Sadtu will make sure that the country does not have "this type of leadership in the department again".

The union would meet on December 3 and 4 to develop a programme of action.

"You cannot tolerate a leadership that destroys education... Education is at the heart of society and you must never play games with education.

"Now we have a reckless leadership that is destroying our education. We believe we have nothing to say to them and nothing to talk to them about anymore," he said.

News24.com