Teachers set to march on Parliament

THE Educators’ Union of South Africa (Eusa) intends using the State of the Nation address, to be delivered later this week, to highlight issues plaguing the Education Department.

Eusa president Scelo Bhengu said members of the union would march to Parliament on Thursday, ahead of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s address.

“We have already received permission from the City of Cape Town,” he said.

Bhengu said they wanted a number of issues addressed, and chief among these was the 30% pass mark.

Bhengu said the problem was that it created a false matric pass rate.

He said it should be accepted that children had different talents and they should be steered towards what they were proficient at.

This meant that people who had good hand skills but were poor in theoretical knowledge should be nurtured to develop those skills at schools, Bhengu said.

Other issues included improving the pupil/teacher ratio, and improved security at schools – the union wants two police officers at every school.

Parliament spokesman Moloto Mothapo said preparations were well under way and security would be tight on Thursday.

Planning started more than six months in advance as they required co-operation from all arms of the state.

Political analyst Thabani Khumalo said Ramaphosa should use the occasion to address gaps in the ANC’s election manifesto.