[Opinion] Declaring Teaching an Essential Service is Reactionary

Our coordinator Nomalanga Mkhize recently wrote an article for YouthLab, a think tank for young South Africans who are forging new political and intellectual paths in our democracy.

The article argues that declaring teaching an essential service will do nothing to solve the problems in the education system and only has the effect of disenfranchising good teachers because of the unprofessional behaviour of their peers.

You can follow YouthLab on Twitter @YouthLabZA or visit their website http://www.youthlab.org.za

Read the excerpt below and click on it to read the whole article on the YouthLab website:

There’s this saying that desperate times call for desperate measures.

But there are times when desperate measures are just desperate. This is how I see the African National Congress’ (ANC) reported warming up to the idea of declaring teaching an essential service. On what grounds is this decision being made? What evidence is there that limiting teachers’ right to strike is going to solve the dysfunctions in the South African education system?