School tests get go-ahead, teachers told to toe line
The ANC's National General Council strongly supported the Annual National Assessments despite a backlash by teacher unions. Briefing the media yesterday, Naledi Pandor, a member of the education commission said, "The commission said we must proceed with this important intervention. If there are problems we must review and implement the outcomes. We cannot stop such an important intervention in basic education."The SA Democratic Teachers Union spokesman Nomusa Cembi said they were "greatly disappointed" by the decision."Ultimately, we want quality education. We have committed ourselves towards the remodelling of ANAs," Cembi said.Last month, Sadtu instructed its 25000 members to boycott this years' assessments. The ANAs were introduced in 2010 to assess numeracy and literacy among pupils in grades 1-9.The commission expressed concern over teachers' punctuality and proposed an inspectorate to evaluate and monitor their behaviour. It also endorsed the introduction of new languages such as Mandarin and Swahili...
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