Policy think tank Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE) research director Stefan Schirmer says there is a need to reduce conflict of interest regarding teacher unions, while he called for State capture in the education sector to be tackled.

Schirmer was speaking at the Defend our Democracy webinar, hosted CDE, where findings were shared on State capture in South Africa’s basic education sector.

He said in addition to corruption in the education sector, the problem was that State capture was linked to the African National Congress' cadre deployment policy.

He added that education officials should not at the same time be union representatives.

“CDE is not against teacher unions. But union representatives cannot be the same people who employ principals and teachers, as they are meant to have oversight over them, but at the same time, also represent them. It is a conflict of interest,” he said.

Schirmer highlighted that corrupt and incompetent officials would always oppose reforms designed to prioritise the interest of learners.

He noted that South African Democratic Teachers Union officials, even if well-intentioned, would confront conflicts of interest blocking them from doing the right thing for learners.

The CDE argued that South Africa needs a systemwide reform, where government must take a public stand against corruption, send cases to the police, prosecute criminality and protect whistleblowers.

Schirmer noted that officials in the Department of Basic Education and in the provinces should not be members of teachers' unions and cadre deployment must be eradicated.

He added that the system must be moved from incompetence to merit and that tackling the issue of State capture was critical for that.

He said improved performance required accountability, calling on public servants to be fully responsible for their actions.

Schirmer said basic education must reintroduce the Annual National Assessment, reinvigorate an independent National Education Evaluation and Development Unit and give principals more power.

He noted that principals were crucial for making schools work, highlighting that there was a lot of evidence pointing to this.

“In order for this to help we have to have responsibility, you cannot be held accountable for something that you have no control over. So they need to be more responsible for who gets hired and promoted at the schools,” he explained.

He said there was a need for public pressure to demand a better education system in South Africa.

Principals must be up for the task and teachers must also be strengthened, he emphasised.

Schirmer noted that to improve the quality of teachers coming into the education system, better training in universities must be offered.

He said teacher shortages and training quality issues needed to be urgently addressed. Better teacher support was in turn dependent on the better bureaucracy that would result from the reform to the system CDE was suggesting.

While the call for new leadership in the education department and at a ministerial level is controversial, he believes there is a need for a leadership that can drive reform and that can make tough decisions.