Hon Speaker, the Public Service strike reached its fourth week, with no resolution reached by the government and the unions. A 21-day suspension was put in place, beginning on 6 September, to give wage talks a chance.
The Minister of Basic Education, hon Angie Motshekga, said last week that it is the schools' prerogative whether or not to cancel the September holidays, and to use it to catch up on school work. This might work.
However, if you calculate 21 days from 6 September 2010, the 21-day suspension period ends on 5 October, and the vacation period ends on 4 October. If a resolution is not reached within these 21 days, our children would be back to square one. We cannot have another strike starting in October, when final exams would be beginning nationally in November. We need a more solid and concrete plan from the Department of Education, which will ensure safe and protected writing centres, where not even Cosas can interfere with our children's vital final exams.
The Department of Education must produce a solid, indisputable and mutually acceptable solution before the future of our children is completely compromised. Thank you.