Mantashe's plea to parents

ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe has called on Eastern Cape parents to hold teachers accountable for the education of their children.

His call comes as the SA Democratic Teachers' Union continued with a go-slow campaign until the provincial education boss Modidima Mannya is removed.

Mantashe called on parents yesterday to get involved in their children's education.

"... But, at the end of the day, it will take the people of Eastern Cape appreciating that the education of their children is their responsibility. It is not just the responsibility of the SA Democratic Teachers' Union. The community in Eastern Cape must actually take it up that teachers teach their kids. If they don't, they must take action," Mantashe said.

He said parents should copy the actions of parents in Tembisa, in Gauteng, who demanded teachers do their jobs. He said parents told the teachers that, if they did not want to teach, they should "disappear".

"Since then Tembisa has actually become a serious point of teaching and learning and the matric results are reflecting that."

Speaking to the media, Mantashe defended the government against the perception that it was not doing enough to prevent the wild-cat teachers' strike in Eastern Cape.

The union embarked on a strike at the beginning of the year despite the fact that matric results in the province were among the worst in the country .

President Jacob Zuma placed the Eastern Cape education department under section 100 (b) administration last year, despite protest from some quarters in Eastern Cape. He transferred its administrative powers to the education minister.

Mantashe said: "There can be no more serious intervention than that. We have been their in our own capacity to talk to various people."

The education crisis in Eastern Cape is pushing the tripartite alliance into a conflict.

Cosatu and the SA Democratic Teachers' Union want Mannya removed.

But the ANC and the SA Communist Party warn that such a drastic move would set a "a suicidal precedent".

Mantashe and Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi visited the province last month in an attempt to resolve the education crisi s.

However, their intervention has yet to bear fruit.

The education impasse in Eastern Cape is likely to continue as both Mannya and the teachers' union dig in their heels.

Mannya said at the weekend that he intends to serve out his employment contract and that he will not be "bought off with a severance package".