Schools disrupted by solidarity march

The recent ‘Palestinian Solidarity March’ held in KwaDukuza has impacted on the teaching and learning within some of our local schools, where educators belonging to SADTU were asked to support this march.
Some of our local schools had to close early as staff members decided to join the march. As parents we often hear from educators how there is not enough time to complete the syllabus within the allotted time frames. It’s disappointing to know that learners have to lose out on teaching time because of decisions taken by authorities.
Politics should be left to politicians and it is imperative that our children receive the quality education our government promises. Educators should support marches dealing with issues such as abortion, rape, drug abuse etc, which directly impacts on learners and educators themselves. Showing support to a particular group of people is misleading and misguides our young people. Educators are expected to be role models for our children in their general behaviour and decision making, however, many of them who did leave school, have not taken the time to even educate learners regarding this issue.
It’s time for educators and managers of schools to take responsibility for our children, instead of using our children as pawns in their own political and religious games.

AJAY SINGH
KwaDukuza