National Education Sub-Committee

Transcription

1 National Education Sub-Committee BULLETIN July 2015 Education either functions as an instrument which is used to facilitate integration of the younger generation into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity or it becomes the practice of freedom, the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world. - Paulo Freire. BUILD STRONG WORKPL ACE ORGANISATION, CL ASS CONSCIOUSNESS AND INTERNATIONALISM

2 NEHAWU convened its national education sub-committee to make an assessment of the work that was mandated to the committee in relation to education matters of the Union and broader society, since its last meeting. Many philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it - Karl Marx. The quote by Marx was used by the Deputy General Secretary, Comrade Zola Saphetha, to set the tone of the meeting whilst outlining the purpose and context of the meeting. With the quotation, Comrade Zola Saphetha went on to emphasise that revolutionaries ought to first and foremost understand the world as it is in order to change it. He argued that the world is characterised by two a n t a g o n i s t i c a n d i r r e c o n c i l a b l e contradictions hence Karl Marx held a view that human societies progress through class Comrade Zola Saphetha Deputy General Secretary struggle - a conflict between ownership class that controls production and a dispossessed labouring class that provides labour for production. The Deputy General Secretary, pointed out to the committee meeting that in line with the above, NEHAWU as a progressive and transformative union should therefore understand education as a phenomenon that is not ideologically, class neutral and always represent the interests of the ruling class as it is the case in South Africa. He went on further to remind comrades that as union that derives its ideological understanding from the Marxist-Leninist revolutionary theory, we should always understand education in the capitalist society as an instrument that perpetuates the hegemony of capitalist ideas to influence the society. The Deputy General Secretary, Comrade Zola Saphetha, reiterated to the meeting on the points below about the imperatives of the committee and union's influence in transforming society: NEHAWU and other progressive forces should thrive to change the status quo in favour of the working class. That means the Union should intensify class consciousness amongst leadership and structures including mobilising progressive forces along consciousness of a class which calls upon all social forces to act together as one unit in order to revolt against the current education system. It is imperative to make the point that there is only one solution for the working class and South African society which is socialism. Unlike the current approaches of the progressive forces that act sectoral and in a fragmented way as they are informed by their immediate narrow interests, the union must master the idea of acting collectively, in an integrated and cohesive manner with all forces that share the same common i n t e r e s t w i t h t h e U n i o n o n t h e transformation of education. The Battle of Ideas project must be grounded from the ideological and political

3 orientation of our union in mobilizing social forces and progressive individuals along the overarching vision of South African society People's Education for People's Power. The meeting is expected therefore to develop a comprehensive and coherent strategy aimed at spearheading public c o n v e r s a t i o n o n e d u c a t i o n. T h i s overarching vision must be a central focus when assessing progress registered in the transformation of education in this country. N E H AW U m u s t a c k n o w l e d g e i t s weaknesses and blame itself for not pursuing the notion of student-worker alliance in order to accelerate the process of forging strong relations towards a vibrant, fighting and campaigning student-worker alliance in institutions of higher education where both NEHAWU and SASCO exist for total transformation. The establishment of the education subcommittee by the union was out of appreciating and acknowledging the fact that NEHAWU in its abbreviation is an education and health workers' union hence it must behave as such and must strongly provide leadership in both fronts. Unfortunately, the functioning of the education subcommittees do not constitute an integral part of the provincial priorities hence they are extremely weak and nonfunctional. The meeting, amongst other things, is expected to assess the functioning of these subcommittees at both provincial and regional level so that sustainable mechanisms are developed to ensure the functional education subcommittees of the national union that are capable to tackle transformation bottlenecks and stumbling blocks in these institutions of higher learning across the country and the education system as a whole. For purposes of paying attention to the functioning of these committees, the provincial and regional office bearers must take full responsibility by presiding over these subcommittee meetings so that the work of the committees are accounted for across structures of the national union. All office bearers presiding over these subcommittees automatically forms part of the national education subcommittee and same applies to provincial education subcommittees (office bearers presiding over regional subcommittees shall automatically form part of the provincial education subcommittee) The meeting should also note that as part of the composition of the education subcommittee there are people appointed as external members based on their expertise on education. Important to note is that the sitting of the subcommittee must not be subjected to the unavailability of the external members. These education subcommittees must be regarded as campaigning structures of the union on education. The Deputy General Secretary, Cde. Zola Saphetha concluded by saying that the union must campaign for People's Education for People's Power. A s s e s s m e n t o f t h e p r o v i n c i a l education subcommittees The National Education Sub-Committee received a report analysing and making an assessment of the various provincial

4 education subcommittees. The assessment of the provincial education subcommittees: Eastern Cape Only one meeting of the subcommittee has been held and there has not been any engagement with the Progressive Youth Alliance. It is therefore unclear as to whether the subcommittee still exist; even though during this period there have been notable incidents of conflicts involving NEHAWU at various universities and TVETs. The province has not undertaken the task of an audit on the balance of forces in these university councils in the province. Free State Since the 10th national congress, only one meeting of the subcommittee has been convened. There is no structured relationship (through the subcommittee) with the formations of the Progressive Youth Alliance, except for a reported instance when the union aided SASCO over a disciplinary matter at UFS. The province has provided a list of council members at UFS, which falls short of an audit of the balance of forces as required. Gauteng Since the 10th national congress, there has o n l y b e e n o n e m e e t i n g o f t h e subcommittee. The union has met with SASCO with the view of working together around the Right to Learn Campaign, but nothing was subsequently implemented. However, in the Sedibeng region there has been a joint march with SASCO. The union seems to participate in the education meetings convened by other formations of the MDM, Alliance or government, but this appears to be done as part of the ongoing work of the provincial office bearers, i.e. outside a programme that would have been developed by the subcommittee. An audit of university councils has only been undertaken by the Sedibeng region at the Vaal University of Technology. KwaZulu-Natal Since the 10th national congress, the subcommittee has only met once. Nonetheless, activities in education seem to be undertaken as part of the ongoing operations rather than in the context of a p r o g r a m m e d e v e l o p e d b y t h e subcommittee. In this regard, the province seems to be improving its work with SADTU and other formations of the Progressive Youth Alliance. The list of members of councils in the universities of the province has been done. Limpopo There has not been any meeting of the subcommittee and there has not been any engagement with the Progressive Youth Alliance since the 10th congress. It appears as if work on education is undertaken on ad hoc basis, i.e. in reaction to some crisis incident. A seriously disturbing issue is that the province has submitted virtually the same report to the 2013 and 2014 CEC, which in itself is an indictment on the province's work in this area. There has been no audit undertaken of the university council. Mpumalanga There has been only two meetings of the subcommittee convened, and this occurred in 2013.The province seems to be working with SASCO on an ad hoc basis, such as making a joint submission in relation to the new university and in dealing with challenges experienced in some of the

5 TVETs. The audit on the university council has not been done. North West The subcommittee has only been established in September 2014 and since then it appears that there have been some jointly coordinated work with SASCO. The audit on the university council has not been undertaken. Northern Cape There have been at least three meetings of the subcommittee since the 10th congress. There is no structured relationship with formations of the Progressive Youth Alliance. The envisaged provincial summit on the Sol Plaatjie University as reported to the 2013 CEC did not materialised. The audit on the university council has not been undertaken. Western Cape It is unclear if the subcommittee has ever met since it was established. It appears that there is an ongoing collaborative work undertaken with SASCO and YCL around issues of the Right to Learn Campaign, even though this does not show as to whether this is undertaken in the context of the programme of the subcommittee. A brief assessment of labour representation in university councils within the province has been undertaken, which was followed up by a brief update on developments in the following year. Conclusive view on the functioning of the provincial subcommittees 1. Only a single province has reported to have met more than three times. On the whole, it would seem as if there are no meetings of subcommittees taking place after the national subcommittee or constitutional meetings to receive reports and drive a programme accordingly. Some of the provinces appear to have only met through a nationally driven programme such as when the subcommittees were established. The same can be said in terms of the programme on Battle of Ideas where activities are only taking place because of an initiative from head office. 2. Only Gauteng, KwaZulu Natal, Free State and Western Cape have done something about the decision to undertake audits of university councils, though Gauteng and Free State have only carried out this work in one institution respectively. However, these audits do not have a narrative assessment of the balance of forces. The failure to undertake an audit of the balance of forces in university councils i n c l u d e s t h e N o r t h e r n C a p e a n d Mpumalanga, which have still not undertaken the work after the councils were established in the new universities respectively. 3. On the whole, it can be said that there are no existing properly established and coordinated provincial joint programmes between the union and formations of the Progressive Youth Alliance. However, there seem to be some form of a working relationship with SASCO in particular in the majority of provinces, but still on an ad hoc basis and outside the context of the subcommittees' programme. Therefore, these working relations tend to be reactive to some crisis incidents rather than a process of the implementation of programme. However, this also depends on the strengths of the other formations, and this includes the ANC where only a few

6 provinces participate in subcommittees on education and health. 4. Most of the engagements with SASCO have been in support of its own campaigns. This suggests that there is no proper expression of the worker-students alliance in a common struggle against the corporatisation of higher education (dealing with outsourcing and the capture by capital of the education content and governance of the institutions), as well as transformation. 5. The sparse occurrence of meetings across all provinces raises a question as to whether we indeed have vibrant education subcommittees envisaged to centrally position the union as an agent in the struggle for People's Education for People's Power. There is clearly a persistent issue of concern regarding the coordination of the subcommittees. It appears as if the provincial secretaries generally shunt this work to PHOSECs or just neglect it. NEHAWU aligns with a progressive f o r c e - H i g h e r E d u c a t i o n Transformation Network [HETN] system that is currently in place, which does not serve the interest of the working class. A progressive force that NEHAWU has aligned with is the Higher Education Transformation Network [HETN], which has an objective of transforming education and broadly the society in general. Higher Education Transformation Network [HETN] About HETN Independent network of alumni from various Universities and TVET Colleges across South Africa Established 11 February ; r e g i s t e r e d N P O ( ) Committed to transformation of higher education and all economic sectors of South Africa. Lobbying, providing policy advocacy and promoting quality research output Improved access to higher education by poor communities Objectives of HETN Lobby & provide policy advocacy for the transformation of higher education through the promotion of open learning principles in different educational sectors; Programme Implementation through strategic Partnerships with state / allied role-players; Presentation by HETN to the National Education Sub-Committee NEHAWU as a progressive transformative union that clearly understands that education is not ideological and class neutral, but represents the interests of the ruling class as is in South Africa. It is upon those basis that the union and progressive forces have aligned towards a common goal of transforming the education Promote quality research output & innovative learning methods & programmes for the transformation of higher education through research Motivate, support and prepare students for the world of work. Engage and enlist universities, TVET Colleges, SETA's, Host Employers to empower graduates. Mobilize resources and stakeholders to support a faster absorption of graduates in the economy. Conduct research and provide vital statistics on graduate empowerment.

7 Build a reliable graduate database and tailor make graduate empowerment solutions Presentation by HETN to the National Education Sub-Committee Network, and further deliberated on the presentation by the network. SASCO Outlines challenges in SRC Elections and NSFAS The Higher Education Transformation Network [HETN], presented to the National Education Sub-Committee on its role and that of progressives, such as the Union should play in transforming the education landscape. The presentation focused amongst other on; Access to Education & Employability, O b s t a c l e s t o H i g h e r E d u c a t i o n Transformation, Racism & Gender Discrimination Patterns in Higher Education and Recommendations. HETN highlighted to the meeting that for education to be accessible and create employability, progressives have to look at the transformation of education from a legislative imperative, whereby the constitution sets it out clearly that all citizens need equal access to education, the Education White Paper (2007) that speaks about transforming education and institutions anew in terms of the new era. The presentation further pointed that transformation of education should provide equity of access to all who seek to attain potential for development, thereby would contribute to the national developments, advancement of all forms of knowledge that would support a democratic ethos and c o m m o n c o m m i t m e n t t o h u m a n development in a non-racial, non-sexist social order. Another area of focus in the presentation by HETN, was on a policy formulation, on transforming the education system, the presentation highlighted areas in the National Development Plan [NDP] 2030, which speak about the role of education in the development of South Africa. The National Education Sub-Committee welcomed and appreciated the presentation by Higher Education Transformation Presentation by SASCO to the National Education Sub-Committee South African Students Congress [SASCO], a progressive student formation ally of the union in relation to championing the transformation agenda in the Higher Education landscape, presented to the national sub-committee the outlook of challenges faced by the organisation with regards to the SRC losses, battle of transforming higher education amongst others. The organisation noted the necessary alarm after the recent losses at the Vaal University of Technology (VUT) and the University of Fort Hare (UFH). The organisation viewed those losses as a serious set-back and reflected that progressive forces should take note of how regressive forces are making inroads in institutions and would need all progressives to be vigilant. SASCO assured the union that it would be doing an introspection as an organisation based on the losses and aggressively focus on servicing students, who in majority are of the working class background. The organisation also indicated that the losses in the institutions could be attributed to a number of challenges, but had identified that the challenges of NSFAS played a significant contributor to the losses.

8 SASCO assured the sub-committee that it will work to ensure that it reclaims all the institutions that it has lost and defend all those that are currently governed by the organisation. The organisation indicated to the committee that currently SASCO controls more than 70 percent of universities in the country and will be working to expand on that percentage. The organisation was of the view that the challenges of NSFAS were an indication that NSFAS in its current form was outdated and the reforms being introduced to the system point to the fact that there is no Free Education in South Africa, and the spending on post-school education in the country is abysmal and silly. SASCO gave an indication to the subcommittee that it will continue to pursue its objectives on the implementation of Free Education, and will continue to mobilise progressive forces, students and broader society for that goal to be achieved. CONCLUSIONS AND WAYFORWARD After the presentations and robust discussions, the meeting agreed on the following conclusions and way forward: (a) Eastern Cape and Northern Cape provinces must ensure that the provincial office bearers responsible for education represent the provinces respectively in future meetings of the national education subcommittee. (b) All outstanding decisions of the subcommittee are implemented by both the head office and provinces without fail and further instructed to give a full account on the extent of the implementation in the next meeting of the subcommittee. (c) The Union, SASCO and HETN must establish a joint team to look at the Higher Education Act (HEA) Review processes and develop a joint submission on key areas of mutual interest. (d) As per the decision to review the current funding model of NSFAS, PDU working with OSEC, SASCO, and HETN are mandated to study the current model and suggest a possible and responsive model which will benefit more deserving students. In pursuit of this task, they consider proposals on the possible campaign on institutional reserves particularly on historical advantaged institutions using the model presented by HETN as a point of reference. This process must be anchored by our call for an independent investigation on the management and distribution of the fund both at the level of the fund and institutions including the level of compliance with NSFAS policy. (e) Together with the progressive forces in the sector, the union must campaign for the increase on the Skills Development Levy as an integral part of contributing more money to NSFAS in order to cover more deserving students. (f) The union supports the campaign of SASCO Restoring Absolute Hegemony project which is aimed at reclaiming the hegemony of SASCO in all structures of student governance, SRCs in particular, across the country. (g) At this point, the national education subcommittee directs provinces to convene education subcommittees where SASCO would be invited to make presentation on t h e s t a t e o f r e a d i n e s s o n t h e implementation of their project. Out of the provincial education subcommittees, joint provincial programmes are expected to emerge and must be submitted to the national office before the 3rd July 2015 for support. (h) All branches of NEHAWU are instructed to convene meetings with SASCO branches before the end of June 2015, to discuss transformation related issues with the view of adopting a joint programme of action to radically transform these institutions of higher learning and strengthen student-worker alliance. Provinces are directed to anchor the implementation of convening these joint branch meetings and to submit full reports

9 describing issues discussed and decisions thereof on the 10th July 2015 to Head Office. (i) The Head Offices of both NEHAWU and SASCO must convene urgent meetings in the identified hot spots, namely: TUT, Wits, CPUT, CUT, DUT and UJ to develop plans to assist SASCO in the forthcoming SRC elections. (j) At national level, a joint national warroom is to be considered to anchor/drive an offensive national campaign aimed at reclaiming and winning SRC elections. (k) The HETN presentation should be made to all provinces for the attention of provincial education subcommittees. In this regard, all provinces are directed to submit dates for the convening of their provincial education subcommittees by the 5th June 2015 to enable the national office to engage the HETN for deployment to all these provincial subcommittee meetings. (l) The head office is directed by the national education subcommittee to urgently convene the national bargaining forums for Higher Education and Training and TVET respectively before the Mid-year Review. Provinces are therefore directed to convene these bargaining forums preceding the national bargaining forums. (m) Forging ahead with the programme of battle of ideas, the following dates were accepted by the national education subcommittee TUT in July, UWC on the 24th July, CUT on the 28th August, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University on the week of the 17th 21st August, Rhodes University in September, UKZN on the week of 6th 10th July and UJ on the week of the 5th to 10th July. Provinces that have not submitted a date must be given by the national office. As we roll-out this programme all structures of the national union must be part of these activities of battle of ideas. (n) As an integral part of the battle of ideas project, the union must consider organising training for subcommittee members on writing skills in order to capacitate them to be able to write articles as a form of contesting the public space. (o) The union should engage the Minister of Higher Education and Training on convening a national conference on the Peoples Education for Peoples Power. Issued by NEHAWU Communications Department 56 Marshall Street, Marshall Town P.O. Box 10812, Johannesburg, 2000 Tel: Fax: Website: info@nehawu.org.za BUILD STRONG WORKPL ACE ORGANISATION, CL ASS CONSCIOUSNESS AND INTERNATIONALISM