16/01/2020
DASO REJECTS CALLS MADE BY COSAS AND SADTU TO NATIONALISE IEB SCHOOLS by DASO National Steering Committee
Date: 14 January 2020
Release: Immediate
The Democratic Alliance Student's Organisation on Wednesday learnt of the intentions of the Congress of South African Students (COSAS) and the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) to Nationalise the Independent Examination Board (IEB) Schools amid concerns of "inequality" between IEB and NSC students.
DASO believes that this call is yet another attempt by the ANC affiliated COSAS to mask wide spread failures throughout the department of basic education (DoBE). Nearly 90% of IEB pupils qualify to study for a Bachelors Degree with a total of almost 99% of all students who wrote the IEB exam passing, this is more proof that the private sector is far better than the ANC government so when Unions like SADTU call for the nationalisation of IEB schools, they are in fact calling for the destruction of the only working system in education in South Africa!
DASO remains very concerned about the quality of NSC passes that put the real matric pass rate at a dismal 38.9% if we factor in the 2018 grade 10 cohort. The pass rate drops to just 16.2% if the standard of a pass is increased to the internationally recognized 50%. The tricks of nationalising IEB schools or reporting rosey stories of 81.3% pass rates is just an indication of how the ANC, COSAS and SADTU are not taking basic education seriously in South Africa resulting in the high NSC drop out rates and inability to access Universities.
A DA run education system would establish basic infrastructure and resource standards for schools, including (but not limited to):
• Safe and appropriate classroom structures;
• Access to utilities (such as water and electricity);
• Access to sanitation services;
• Libraries, laboratories and workshops; and
• Basic information technology and communications equipment.
Education lies at the heart of empowerment. It is an enabler for effective poverty reduction, for reducing inequality, for job-creating economic growth and to equip individuals to use the opportunities available to them.
There is, however, significant scope to improve education outcomes by:
• Creating clear norms and standards for the management and resources in our schools;
• Prioritising accountability in educational governance and management;
• Minimising political interference and maximising the management prerogative of those entrusted with educational governance;
• Encouraging communities to become active stakeholders in their schools;
• Learning from successful models and intervening where the system is failing learners;
• Leveraging technology to streamline governance processes and to make education resources more accessible;
• Making certain that the curriculum prepares learners for the professional demands in a global economy;
• Ensuring that teachers and school management teams are rewarded for performance and disciplined for failures; and
• Empowering parents to seek the best possible educational opportunities for their children.
Nationalising the IEB is simply not the solution. The Department of Basic Education needs to revisit its education roll out plan and invest in ways that ensure that the quality of education in this country is increased using the IEB as a bench mark to measure their success!
Media Inquiries
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Kwena Moloto | DASO Federal Chairperson | 0832693189
Sakhile Mngadi | DASO Federal Deputy Chairperson | 0614029328
