21 July 2010

The IFP-aligned South African Democratic Students' Movement (SADESMO) are shocked at the recent revelation that nearly one third of science teachers in KwaZulu Natal are not qualified. 

SADESMO National Spokesperson, Mkhuleko Hlengwa, said: "It is beyond shocking and completely unacceptable that over 9000 of the 35 000 science teachers in KwaZulu Natal are not properly qualified to teach in this area, and the government is dragging its heels to remedy this situation. This tragedy is in gross violation of the Bill of Rights, and indicates that government does not care about education." 

"South Africa is trailing behind when it comes to maths and science and matric results in these subjects are depressingly dismal; yet corrective measures have taken a back seat and by and large do not feature on the government agenda. Such a high rate of unqualified teachers is totally unacceptable; and government must remedy this situation with the same speed in which it rolled out World Cup infrastructure," Hlengwa added

 Noting that this problem might not be isolated to KZN only, Hlengwa said: "SADESMO will be communicating with IFP Parliamentary Caucus in Cape Town to ask them to probe this matter further on a national level, so that whatever corrective action we propose will take into account the national agenda. We need to, however, hear from KZN authorities on what action they will be taking to solve this educational mess." 

In conclusion, Hlengwa said: "There is an urgent need for government to prioritise education in its entirety, to ensure that South Africans receive quality education, which they rightly deserve.  We want to issue a first and last warning to government to sort out this catastrophe, or else..."
 

Mkhuleko "Leko" Hlengwa
SADESMO National Spokesperson
083 871 2711 / 073 1667 904