"Geweld in skole" kry nuwe betekenis
Die Romeine het ‘n sêding gehad van “altyd iets nuuts uit Afrika”. Ons ken die uitdrukking van “geweld in skole”, waarmee bedoel word dat daar soms ‘n probleem in skole is dat die leerlinge hulle wangedra. Die berig hieronder is maar een voorbeeld van die gemors waarin onderwys in Suid-Afrika nou betrek word en wat ‘n nuwe weergawe is van “geweld in skole”.
Die SAOU, die organisasie wat veronderstel is om meerderheid Afrikaanse onderwysers te verteenwoordig, en wat ons dus in ons denke met ordelikheid wil assossiëer, en wat hoog opgee dat christelike onderwys nog in staatskole moontlik is, het hulleself van hierdie wanorde begin deelmaak: hulle Nuusflits 51/2010 gedateer 19 Augustus 2010, begin soos volg:
MEDIAVERKLARING
UITGEREIK DEUR DR JOPIE BREED, PRESIDENT VAN DIE SAOU OP 19 AUGUSTUS 2010
SAOU NEEM DEEL AAN INDUSTRIëLE AKSIE
Die Dagbestuur van die SAOU het op Donderdag, 19 Augustus, besluit dat die SAOU met ingang van Maandag, 23 Augustus tot Donderdag, 26 Augstus sal deelneem aan industriële aksie in die vorm van rollende massa-aksie. Die hoogtepunt sal Donderdag, 26 Augustus wees wanneer deelgeneem sal word aan massa optogte in die nege provinsies, en alle lede word versoek om op hierdie dag hulle solidariteit met ander vakbonde te toon.
In die laaste paragraaf van die nuusflits probeer hulle vergoed vir die oproep om “solidariteit met ander vakbonde te toon”, met die volgende:
Die SAOU rekordeer ook sy absolute afkeur in die optredes van lede van ander vakbonde wat hulle skuldig maak aan die beskadiging van eiendom en die intimidering van leerders en onderwyspersoneel by skole.
Die SAOU sal baie vinnig moet onttrek uit hierdie staking om die eer en tradisie van die roepingsbewuste Afrikaneronderwyser te red. As hulle dit nie doen nie, moet hulle self die verantwoordelik dra dat hulle nie meer deur Christelike-Afrikaneronderwys ernstig opgeneem gaan word nie. Inteendeel het hulle reeds die kloof begin groter maak.
Dis individuele onderwysers wat lede van die SAOU is, moet nie noodwendig almal oor dieselfde kam geskeer word nie; hulle moet wel hulle leiers se optredes en uitsprake deeglik weeg, en mooi waarneem waarby meerderheidstembesluite jou kan insleep as jy aan ‘n vakbondorganisasie behoort.
Kom ons reël ‘n dag van waardering vir CVO-, ARSO- en ander Christelike skole se onderwysers wat dikwels finansiëel slegter daaraan toe is as die staatsonderwysers, maar wat blykbaar ‘n veel hoër roepingsbewustheid het. Onafhanklike onderwys word net by die dag belangriker.
Groete
Leonard van der Dussen
www.indicato.co.za______________________Leonard van der Dussen
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Mob attacks matric pupils
By Sinegugu Ndlovu & Wendy Jasson da Costa
A teenager is nursing a broken collar bone after a mob wearing Cosatu T-shirts beat up matric pupils in Scottburgh with knobkieries.
Scottburgh High School had closed last Thursday because of the intimidation accompanying the nationwide public servants' strike. On Wednesday, 107 pupils and four teachers were studying at the local country club when a gang invaded the property, demanding to know what the pupils were doing.
Pupil Johan Naude saw two fellow matrics brutally attacked.
"They grabbed two girls by the hair, threw them on the floor and started kicking them. I saw one of the girls hit on the head with a knobkierie and I was also hit when I tried to help them," he said.
School governing body spokesman Henry Mulcahy said the attackers were part of a larger group of workers who had been picketing at GJ Crookes Hospital. They were apparently tipped off that pupils were studying at the country club and attacked.
Mulcahy said while pupils in lower grades remained at home - with tasks to ensure they did not fall behind the academic schedule - it was decided on Thursday that matrics would resume classes at the country club for safety reasons.
A spokesman for the country club said the attackers came rushing across the field, shouting: "What are the kids doing here?"
"We closed the doors. They went around the property and started pulling the front door off its hinges and beat the kids up. We were all terrified."
Police Lieutenant-Colonel Zandra Wiid said five pupils had opened public violence cases.
Cosatu leader Zet Luzipho distanced the organisation from the incident and advised the victims to report the matter to the police.
"Anyone can wear a Cosatu T-shirt. If anyone feels their rights have been violated, they have a right to recourse," he said.
Despite attacks on pupils, the provincial Education Department on Wednesday urged all matrics to "be in class, studying during this period".
Spokeswoman Mbali Thusi said they were concerned about the year-end results as matrics had not performed well in the first and second quarters. She called on school governing bodies and parents to help monitor pupils and keep order at schools.
In the meantime, the ANC-aligned Congress of SA Students (Cosas) called for matric exams to be delayed because of the strike.
In 2008, KZN achieved a 57.8 percent matric pass rate, and 61.1 percent last year.
Renuka Vithal, deputy vice-chancellor of teaching at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, said it was unlikely that the statistics would improve, given the long June holiday to accommodate the World Cup and now the indefinite strike. She said based on the limited amount of "contact teaching time", it was hard to envisage an improvement. Poor pupils would suffer more because they could not afford extra tuition.
Reginald Chiliza, of the National Association of School Governing Bodies, said the body was considering taking legal action.
"Our children's right to education has been violated," he said.
Basic Education Department spokesman Granville Whittle said the department would institute a recovery plan, which would include extra classes. He added that Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga was willing to meet Cosas to discuss its concerns. She also expressed concern about the violence and intimidation at KZN and Gauteng schools.
The Public Servants Association is also expected to begin striking on Wednesday, meaning another 200 000 government workers, including 41 000 in KZN, could down tools.
The sick are also paying the costs of failed wage negotiations because staff at several hospitals have been forcibly removed from their workstations.
Health MEC Sibongiseni Dhlomo visited King Edward VIII Hospital yesterday and found the casualty department deserted. At some hospitals, strikers prevented emergency services workers from entering and leaving hospitals.
"Even under apartheid, while we supported the Struggle against the unjust system, some remained in service to ensure that people received health care," said Dhlomo.
He said the SA Military Health Service had been asked for assistance. "Where there is fairly good attendance and minimal disruption, we are keeping such institutions running. We have also suspended elective surgeries until the situation returns to normal."
Sibusiso Mboto reports that sjambok-wielding strikers attacked public servants at several government department buildings in Pietermaritzburg on Wednesday.
The strikers went to schools in Imbali and Edendale, forcing staff and pupils to leave, before moving to town. Police confirmed cases of malicious damage to property and intimidation had been laid.
In one instance, staff were forced out of the Education Department's premises. In another, a Statistics SA official was forced to join a mob.
* This article was originally published on page 1 of The Mercury on August 19, 2010
Mercury
Published on the Web by IOL on 2010-08-19 04:45:00
