Hon House Chair, hon members and hon guests, South Africa has indeed made strides towards achieving education for all. The records show that we are nearly at 100%. The biggest problem that the country has not been able to address is that of quality. The report released by the National Education Evaluation and Development Unit, Needu, confirms what we have known. It confirms what the Annual National Assessments, ANA, and other reports have told us, that the quality of education in the majority of our schools is poor. The Needu report tells us that many teachers cannot teach at a higher cognitive level. Children are by and large taught to reproduce.
However, before we lynch teachers, let us remember that these teachers did not produce themselves. They can only teach what they were taught. Azapo therefore calls for more investment in the development of teachers. No education system can be better than its teachers. With regard to the three T's, and the three hours of contact, researchers have told us that in township and village schools, children are taught three and a half hours on average per day, instead of seven hours. That is why we become alarmed when we hear that there will be work-to-rule, or go-slows. If a teacher who teaches three hours per day embarks on a go-slow, does it mean that the teacher is going to teach for one hour per day? We want to add our voice to those who accuse the Minister and her department of undermining collective bargaining. How could she withdraw from a collective agreement without putting a new proposal on the table? We assume that she has legal advisers, who should have told her that it was not legal to do so.
Azapo is glad that the threat of industrial action has been removed. The threat should not have been there in the first place because, as the Minister should know, unions cannot strike on a dispute of right. People go to court for that kind of dispute. Did the hon Minister's legal advisers not tell her that? It is unfortunate that the decision to stop the threat of strike action was also taken outside the bargaining council, the Education Labour Relations Council, ELRC ... [Interjections.] ... once more undermining collective bargaining.
We did not say anything in our speech about money, because Azapo believes the problem in our system is not about money, but about leadership, commitment and the management of our schools and systems, including the department. Azapo supports Vote No 15. Thank you. [Applause.]