Teachers unions hit back at Pandor over college

By Celani Sikhakhane

• Teachers unions rejected Naledi Pandor’s claims about old teacher training colleges, saying the institutions produced well prepared educators who still teach today.

• National Teachers Union president Sibusiso Malinga blamed the government for failing to transform teacher training colleges instead of shutting the institutions down.

Former education minister Dr Naledi Pandor has angered teachers unions after saying teacher training colleges were closed because many were costly, inefficient and failed to deliver the required academic quality.

The South African Democratic Teachers Union and National Teachers Union have strongly rejected her claims.

Pandor made the remarks during a recent appearance on the African Renaissance Podcast.

She said moving teacher education to universities allowed the state to use its money better and improve teachers’ knowledge of the subjects they teach.

“The state shifted teacher education to universities to direct resources efficiently and improve teacher subject matter expertise. Many legacy colleges were a heavy financial drain on state resources without producing adequate educational returns,” Pandor said.

But teachers unions say the old colleges played an important role in producing educators.

KwaZulu Natal South African Democratic Teachers Union secretary Nomarashiya Caluza questioned what research Pandor had used to reach her conclusion.

Caluza said it would be unfair to directly compare teachers trained at the old colleges with the current generation coming from universities.

However, she believes the colleges prepared teachers well for the classroom and the demands of the education system.

“I wonder which research she based this on because teacher training colleges were the best and they produced the best quality of teachers in the country,” Caluza said.

“The only thing I don’t want is to compare them with the current generation because this would be unfair.”

Caluza said some teachers working in schools today have also raised concerns about how newly qualified educators are prepared for classroom life.

She believes the old teacher training colleges placed a strong focus on preparing future educators for the realities they would face once they started working.

National Teachers Union president Sibusiso Malinga went even further, accusing Pandor of spreading propaganda about why the colleges disappeared.

He said the government should have transformed the colleges to meet the needs of the new education system instead of closing them.

“It’s unfortunate that she was once the Minister of Education but she failed to transform the teacher colleges to meet the new system,” Malinga said.

He argued that many teachers who came through the colleges remain in classrooms today.

“Those teachers who were produced by colleges are still standing even today and producing the best quality of education,” he said.

Malinga also claimed there was a political reason behind the closure of some colleges, particularly in KwaZulu Natal.

He said some were viewed as part of the legacy of the former KwaZulu government under the late Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi.

“Dr Pandor needs to tell the truth that the closure of colleges was political as they were viewed as the legacy of the late Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi’s KwaZulu government,” Malinga said.

He said KwaZulu Natal had many teacher training colleges before their closure.

According to Malinga, some of the former college properties have since been abandoned and are now being used as grazing land for cattle.

He said the colleges once provided an important route into teaching for black students who could not afford university education during apartheid.

Many were based in townships and rural areas, making teacher training more accessible to communities that had fewer higher education opportunities.

The unions believe that history should not be ignored when discussing the quality of teachers who came from those institutions.

Pandor’s comments have now reopened an old debate about whether shutting teacher training colleges and moving teacher education into universities improved the system or removed an important pathway for future educators.

For Caluza and Malinga, blaming the colleges for poor quality education is unfair.

They believe the institutions produced generations of teachers who were prepared for the classroom and served communities across South Africa.

Pictured above: Former education minister Dr Naledi Pandor has angered teachers unions with her comments about the closure of teacher training colleges.

Image source: Department of International Relations and Cooperation.