Any country should have a fair legal system. However, I wonder if people who criticise educational authorities in South Africa are protected by the legal system.
In the apartheid years, teachers had little protection from the legal system. Teachers who objected to the apartheid government politically were forced out of the system.
Teachers belonging to the Teachers’ League of South Africa and Cape African Teachers’ Association during the apartheid years were summarily dismissed or banned. Under the post-1994 government, teachers who criticise the policies of the present system find themselves up against an authoritarian educational government system.
I was thrown out of the teaching system because I refused to keep quiet about the injustices in the present system. I had to go through draining disciplinary hearings and a Labour Court hearing, and after an exhausting legal process, I was dismissed.
Other colleagues followed the same fate. Wesley Neumann, the former principal of Heathfield High, recommended with his SGB (school governing body) in 2020 that students stay home during the Covid-19 pandemic.
He was taken to court by the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) and dismissed. He is still fighting for reinstatement. In order to fight the system, you have to follow the legal route within the WCED.
But it seems the dice are loaded against you. Teachers who are at odds with the department in most cases give in and pay the fines that are dished out to them. How can the situation be remedied? Is it worthwhile to take on the department? Without huge financial backing, it is almost impossible.
Here are some suggestions: A teachers’ organisation should be formed that looks after the interests of teachers. Teachers would pay monthly fees that would allow the organisation to defend teachers in court.
In the interim, teachers could tell the department that they will carry out orders but explain why they disagree with them. Maybe the department will see reason. The radical approach is to challenge the department in court.
However, the department can change its attitude towards progressive teachers and listen to their views. This would lead to harmony in the teaching situation.
* Brian Isaacs.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
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