Limpopo neglected education - Sadtu
2012-02-17 16:02
Johannesburg - Limpopo Premier Cassel Mathale in his state of the province address neglected to tackle education problems, a teacher union said on Friday.
"Very little is said about provision of classrooms in our schools and communities, supply of learner teacher support materials, and initiatives to develop teachers," said the SA Democratic Teachers' Union (Sadtu).
Provincial secretary Matome Raphahla said Mathale's address on Thursday amounted to a commitment to glorify the past without providing a way forward for education in the province.
Raphahla said little or nothing had been said about assisting matriculants who could not afford tertiary education fees.
"The presentation is a clear indication that the premier is not living in the same province as our masses who continue to suffer, subjected to schools without provision of chairs and tables, [and] non-payment of norms and standard monies..."
Also, it appeared sections of the address were "cut and pasted" from the previous year's speech, he said.
Quoting Macbeth's soliloquy, Raphahla said the speech was: "full of sound and fury, but signifying nothing".
The union and education department have clashed recently over the suspension of temporary teachers.
Five departments, including education, were recently put under national administration in the province.
- SAPA
