Partners in education : some policy guidelines for improving relations among different role players in the new education system with reference to the greater Newcastle Area

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:This study focuses on problems in the teaching fraternity after 1994. The transition todemocracy brought about major changes in the running of the civil service. Thisstudy explores how the education policy of the central government in general, and thatof KwaZulu-Natal Province in particular, affected human relations between schoolmanagers and teachers.A questionnaire was used to investigate the issue. Education policy guidelines andliterature have been used to illustrate how policy can produce unintendedconsequences. The respondents to the questionnaire were selected school managersand teachers. The questions were aimed at gauging opinion regarding issues such asprotection of line managers, moratorium on teacher transfers, the Labour RelationsAct, commitment to teaching and training needs, to name just a few. Humanrelations seemed to worsen from 1996 to 1999 as most educators disobeyed the rulesand to same extent continued to do so even after this period, in the name of unionismdriven by relatively fair labour practice. One of the contentious issues in theconflict was the Labour Relations Act of 1995 that streamlined all labour sectors, thusdoing away with differentiated legislation on each sector.The study found that the following factors contributed to strained human relations inthe KwaZulu-Natal education sector: The abolition of corporal punishment inschools, a general lack of recognition for educational achievement of educators, a lackof recognition for good performance by supervisors, the way in which the LabourRelations Act was implemented in schools, unregulated voluntary severance packagesfor teachers, and the refusal by teacher unions to take up the duty loads of terminatedtemporary educators.In the light of the above the study made four recommendations: Knowledge andunderstanding of the Labour Relations Act should be strengthened among educators,further education of teachers should be recognised as it affects the quality ofeducation in schools, the re-opening of educator transfers should be investigated, andtraining programmes are important to ensure capacity building.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University