26 September 1999.
Sanibona!
Ninjani?
Comrades,
Colleagues
What a home coming?
Seldom does a person get an opportunity to come home twice on a single day. Yet this is happening to me today. I have come home to my province, to the very hills in which I grew up, to the very people I can truly call my own. But I have also come home to t he very profession that launched me into the realm of possibilities, which would see me live a rich life in professional and other terms. Teaching is my first profession, and would have been my profession for life had it not been for the cruel system of Ap artheid, that made it impossible for me to continue in the profession.
I had to leave teaching at an early stage, because I discovered that it had never been my desire to teach in an "Indian School". I wanted to teach in a school, not an "Indian school". Yet in a way I never left the profession. I have been a teacher all my l ife, albeit in contexts other than schools. And so I am home among you.
Oh! I nearly forgot. This is unbelievable. In fact this is a home coming in three senses. I have also come home to be among trade unionists. I have myself been a trade unionist and a President of my union at some point in my life. And I have been a defende r and a promoter of trade union rights through - out my life. And so again I am among friends. This is amazing.
Comrade chair, I therefore greet you all as my brothers and sisters, my comrades and fellow trade unionists, and my colleagues in the teaching profession. Even as I greet you, I also wish to address you in those three senses today, as brothers and sisters, as trade unionists, and as professionals.
Perhaps I should begin by saluting all teachers in this country, whether they are members of this union or not. As we approach World Teachers Day, I wish to commend you for your resilience under difficult conditions. I acknowledge that the transformation p rocess has been difficult on teachers. As a lifelong trade unionist myself, I therefore applaud the historic role the unions have plaid in working with us through difficult processes such as rationalisation and redeployment. Long live the spirit of commitm ent to transformation in our unions, particularly SADTU.
Comrade chair, I said I would first address you as brother and sisters, comrades in arms. When President Thabo Mbeki decided to ask me in the early hours of the morning, on 17 June 1999 to become the Minister of Education, I did not know then what was goin g on in his mind. All I knew was that he was giving me a huge responsibility, and a huge challenge. I also knew that I was not planning to disappoint him and the nation, on whose overwhelming mandate he was acting in making the appointment.
It was only later, at a Cabinet meeting, when Cabinet took two and half hours, discussing education, that I began to understand what he expected of me. During the discussion he posed a question: "Do we have an education system for the 21st Century?" I took him as saying to me, "The nation is asking you to answer that question fully and honestly.
And so for a month I held meetings with a variety of organisations and individuals, from a wide range of backgrounds, and I asked them to help me answer that question. On the 27 July 1999 I gave the President and unequivocal answer. I said to him, Mr. Pres ident, we do not have an education system fit for the 21st Century. In fact we do not even have one for this century. Our education system is simply in crisis.
But I knew the President was not just asking the question in order to get such an answer. What the President wanted, was more than a yes or no answer. He wanted to know what we were doing about it. So I gave him my response, which was outlined in a public statement announcing a national mobilisation campaign for education, under the slogan, "Tirisano" or " Bambisanani". In this statement I announced nine priorities that I would focus on together with all sectors of our nation to get our education system on the road to the twenty- first century. I hope the document on those nine priorities has been or will be distributed at this conference.
What I was saying by launching "tirisano" was that we could only succeed in getting our education right if we all first acknowledged that there is a lot wrong, and then working together to fix what is wrong. Only by working together, and not against one an other can we take our system leaps and bounds into the new millennium. That is what service delivery means in education, and if this conference is to be true to its sub-theme, "service delivery in education", it has to address this question of "Tirisano", "Ubambisano" in education.
Well, today I have this opportunity for the first time as Minister of Education, to address a gathering of teachers, who are members of the largest teacher's union in the country. And so I ask you, like the President asked me, "Do we have an education syst em for the 21st century? Do we have teachers who are ready for the new millennium? Are our children learning for the new age? Is SADTU a union of the new order?
Perhaps before you even answer these questions, let me tell you that I have had the opportunity to ask a wide range of people, apart from those I met during my first month as Minister, and there is an overwhelming consensus that the public views teachers i n a negative light. The public out there does not see SADTU as a teachers union that is working to lead our teachers, as workers, and therefore our country, into the next century. In fact, one central concern raised by many Ministers at Cabinet during the discussion I have referred to, was the poor level at which the majority of township and rural schools were functioning, caused mainly by a lack of discipline and professionalism among our teachers. I was told that in many instances there is a very clear pe rception that there is a lack of concern amongst teachers for the well-being of their students.
I have met parents in their governing body associations who have told me stories of how they are treated with disdain by teachers, particularly SADTU members, whenever they demand their rightful say in the education of their children. I have even met indiv iduals who do not hesitate to suggest that our teachers are a rotten lot, and should all be fired and replaced with new good teachers. I want to make it very clear to you all, that what I am saying about teachers, about SADTU reflects a growing frustration of parents, particularly black parents at the manner in which teachers conduct themselves, under the shelter of the union.
Personally, I take the view that this is a case of a few rotten apples contaminating the rest of the otherwise dedicated and highly professional corps of teachers. I am even aware that some of you, agree fully with me when I say the union, rightly or wrong ly, is losing its positive image in the public eye.
Comrades, I have therefore come here today to invite you to work with me to change the negative image our society now has of a teacher. I want take the teaching profession back to a time when it was the most respected profession in the community. I want to take you back to a time when teachers were highly respected, and highly appreciated, when parents would rely on them as good custodians of discipline, when mothers would not hesitate to warn their children that they would tell their teachers about their b ad behaviour, when the community would not hesitate to select teachers to represent them in any situation. I want to take you back to a time when teachers occupied a very high status in society.
Some people have said to me that if I want to do this, then I must pay teachers better. Well, that may just be one factor, but I do not think it is the most important one. I hope you will agree with me on that. Nevertheless, I would still support the need to better the conditions of service of our educators, but you must help me by earning your worth. At the moment I do not believe the public out there believes you are really worth the money we spend on you. They have reasons for that. Let us together get r id of those reasons.
What I believe made the community love teachers so much in my time, was because they represented all that was good that a person could become. They were an epitome of professional discipline. They were a symbol of dedication, and true leadership. They were well informed and, therefore, they were regarded as good counsellors.
Comrade chairperson, I am not romanticising the past in painting this picture of teachers. I am merely evoking the future, outlining a vision of a teacher we have to construct, and mapping out the ground we have lost as teachers, which we need to regain. I , as Minister of Education, believe we need to restore that dignity among our teachers, and help them regain the status they once occupied. I want you to find your way back to the hearts and minds of our people, to reclaim the love they once had for you.
That is why I want to examine with you the kind of unionism you are now following, and to suggest that it has had very negative effects on your role as teachers. Let me hasten to say that I will defend your unionism whenever I am called upon to do so. In f act I have been doing that in Parliament for some time now, when some members of the opposition have suggested that I should declare teaching an essential service.
But let us be honest with one another. I do not believe that what I have seen in the last month or so during your demonstrations reflects the kind of unionism worth defending. Nor do I believe that the founding fathers and mothers of progressive teacher un ionism in this country are proud to see their product when they look at what is emerging today. Some of the placards have carried insensitive insults rather than highlighting the real issues been disputed. No one should expect that a progressive teacher's union, especially one which finds its root in the Congress tradition would, for instance, suggest on a placard such sexist insults as saying that Comrade Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi's "place is in the kitchen".
Well, perhaps something can be said about your creativity when you call her Fraser-Moeilikheid. One could dismiss that as part of the tactics of mass mobilisation. But to then turn her name into "Njandini"(dog) as I hear some of you now call her, and even to turn that beautiful song, reflecting the power of our organised forces to be able to open closed doors where intransigent individuals have decided to close them to the people, into a song of insult to her about who she is and her supposed level of educa tion, is something we cannot countenance.
Worse still, a trade unionism that sees balaclava clad "teachers" driving teachers and students at gun point out of school, as the parents of Soweto allege was happening there during the so called strike action of the Soweto teachers, cannot be associated with the movement of teachers such as John Dube, Mathew Goniwe and others. But ask people around you as to who does these things, and they will not hesitate to say, it is SADTU.
Your theme talks about defending public education. Let me tell you of parents in the townships and rural areas do not see you defending public education at all. They do not even think that you are concerned about service delivery at all. They argue that th e reason why you are prepared to down chalk for the slightest excuse is because many of you do not have your children in the schools you are said to be disrupting. They say so openly, both about you and about government officials who negotiate with you on behalf of government. You may call this reactionary, but the fact of the matter is, they also have a right, perhaps even more so than you and I, to defend public education, one they can afford to send their children to. More than anything, they have a righ t to expect the best service delivery from public officials and the teachers they employ.
I know by now you might be saying: here comes yet another attack on us from the powers that be. But I want to challenge you to work with me, and not to be defensive about all these things. These may not be correct perceptions, but I tell you they are there . You will not get rid of them by highlighting counter views and getting angry at those who raise them. The only way to deal with this is by reclaiming the union from the hands of those who do despicable things in the name of unionism, and in particular SA DTU, and to show visible commitment to the kind of unionism worthy of the profession you organise.
Which brings me again to the element of professionalism. You will agree with me when I say that the level of professionalism among teachers is at its lowest. I am not going to sing a litany of unprofessional behaviour that is prevalent among teachers. I th ink it is time we turned the tide around, and highlighted the virtuous deeds of thousands of teachers who are doing their best.
Again I want you to work with me to restore the professional status of the teacher in the community. We can only do this if we are conscious of the fact that professionalism and unionism are two different aspects of a teacher's life, even though they shoul d complement one another. As a union you have certain rights and obligations you need to fulfil. But you are also professionals, and the public expects nothing less than professionalism from you.
Let me be concrete about this matter. It is a well-known fact that principals and governing bodies find themselves helpless when they have to discipline members of the union, because members always use the union as a threat and a shield for ill-discipline. Teachers are also said to neglect their professional duties, and to behave in many unprofessional ways, such as substance abuse, and child abuse, using the union as a shield, whenever they have to face action from authorities.
We cannot continue this way. I know the union has come out openly against such behaviour. I am not questioning your commitment to getting rid of it. What I am saying is, we must be seen to be acting against these kinds of things, and not just condemning th em from a distance. I therefore wish to invite you to work with us in this regard. Let us reclaim the professional status of our teachers, and let us do so together.
On my part as Minister, I have taken the initiative to establish a national teachers award, as a contribution to making teachers take their place in society. I have also urged my department to develop a discussion document on professional standards for edu cators, and I will be receiving a first draft of this paper for my consideration on World Teachers' Day, 5 October 1999.
But more importantly, as October begins, I will be sending my officials to visit areas that have been identified by the President as needing urgent attention, both rural and urban, to work with teachers, parents, students, and other stakeholders, to get ed ucation right in those pilot areas. The visits will focus on whole school evaluation and whole school development. I therefore want to announce that I am instructing these officials to come back from these visits with a set of instruments that can be used to assess schools, and to appraise their performance.
I intend putting in place a mechanism for whole school appraisal, which will complement the teacher appraisal process we are presently implementing. Schools must be held accountable to their communities for their performance, and I am going to make sure th at they do account to the public, in terms of clear criteria. My officials are now ready with the instruments that will be piloted in the areas I have talked about. Here in KwaZulu Natal the President identified Inanda as an area of focus. The Deputy Presi dent is still leading a process that will identify the rural area of focus.
I will be failing in my duty if I do not also say that I am going to engage you in a vigorous debate about what are regarded as professional matters, and matters for bargaining. Service delivery in education demands that we act and act swiftly to get thing s right. We cannot, and should not subject everything to bargaining. To begin with, I am very keen to de-unionise the South African Council of Educators (SACE), and I am looking forward to that debate. I do not believe that a professional body such as SACE can be subject to questions such as how much support a particular union has among teachers. It cannot be subjected to the dominant ideological orientation of the time among teachers. Instead it should be a teachers' body, which is there to promote profess ional standards, and therefore should reflect the public interest, and the interest of teachers, not as union or non -union members, but as professionals. I want to involve the public in this debate, as this is a matter of public interest.
I also want to engage you seriously on the question of supervision of teachers. I am not talking here about the old school inspection system. I would be the first one to speak against that. But I believe that the supervisory role of principals, and their m anagement teams, together with district officials, is key to service delivery. We may one day mature into a self-supervising system, which has internalised accountability, but at this stage I believe we still need monitored accountability. I am still havin g an internal debate with my officials on this one. What I do not understand, is why we should subject a matter of the responsibility of government, to ensure quality service delivery through quality assurance and supervision mechanisms, to the bargaining process? My officials tell me that in their view I need to subject the issues of tools and mechanisms for doing that, but they hasten to say also that I would need to make a calculated choice in this regard. When I am ready I will take the debate to all te acher unions.
Comrades, I have only one concern, and one concern only. I have a duty to see to it that the majority of working class parents, who are your comrades in arms within COSATU, and those who are unemployed can access quality education for their children. I the refore want to conclude by challenging you to be really true to your conference theme, defending public education, and service delivery in education. The only way we can do so together is to make sure that nothing, and I mean nothing is allowed to disrupt public education especially in our township and rural school, where this malaise is prevalent. Let us all together pledge at this conference that we will defend the right of our children to basic education, and whatever we will do, whether in defence of ou r own rights against perceived or real violation or in our daily professional duties, will not stop delivery of teaching and learning, even for a minute. The nation demands no less from us. Let us indeed be a teaching corps at work for a better life for al l, through education.
I thank you.