ASSESSMENT FORMS: SNAT, GOVT CLASH

MBABANE – Battle lines have been drawn between government and the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) over assessment forms for teachers.

These forms are designed to assess teachers on performance on their daily tasks as explained by Ministry of Education and Training School Manager Lungelo Nhlengetfwa and they have been disbursed to some schools in the Manzini Region.  However, SNAT has advised its members not to sign the forms, interpreting them as a tool for the public management system (PMS) that government is implementing on public services.  Nhlengetfwa revealed that teachers who will not cooperate on the filling in of the forms will be charged with insubordination because they will be defying their immediate supervisors, being the head teachers.

The forms are given to head teachers in each public school and it is them who are expected to engage every teacher in the school in filling the form.

Information

The form requires such information as subject taught, time/duration, comment on lesson plan, comment on quality of lesson objectives, language, dress code, punctuality and involvement in extra curriculum, among other things. SNAT interpreted the forms as a tool for PMS, advising its members not to sign the forms because the PMS item was at the Joint Negotiations Forum, and thus could not be implemented.

“Don’t sign this form in schools. Kindly alert your branch executive committee (BEC) secretary if your school does not have such a form. We urge SNAT representatives to check such an imposed tool and report to the relevant structure for proper guidance,” reads a message that was sent by SNAT in its official Facebook page.  SNAT Secretary General Lot Vilakati said the association intends instituting legal action against the Ministry of Education and Training on this unknown tool which is a PMS tool. 

Vilakati said they were empowered by Section 26 of the Employment Act of 1980, which provides that where the terms of employment specified in the copy of the form in the Second Schedule given to the employee under Section 22 are changed, the employer shall notify the employee in writing, specifying the changes which are being made, and subject to the following subsections, the changed terms set out in the notification shall be deemed to be effective and to be part of the terms of service of that employee.

“Where, in the employee’s opinion, the changes notified to him under Subsection (1) would result in less favourable terms and conditions of employment than those previously enjoyed by him, the employee may, within 14 days of such notification, request his employer, in writing, (sending a copy of the request to the Labour commissioner), to submit to the Labour commissioner a copy of the form given to him, under Section 22, together with the notification provided under Subsection (1) and the employer shall comply with the request within three days of it being received by him,” reads the Act.

“If our negotiations with government do not bear any desired fruits on the PMS, we should then take the matter up either through courts or through demonstrations. As it is now, government should not be implementing the PMS,” he said.

Appraise

However, Nhlengetfwa clarified that the form was not a PMS tool but was meant to appraise the teachers on their daily duties. He revealed that the form was an old instrument that was introduced way before the introduction of the PMS exercise.  He said that the forms were designed to assess the teachers on their performance of the daily tasks they undertake.  “Every place of employment has its way of appraising its employees on the contribution they make towards their work, to evaluate if they are putting the expected effort or not. Teachers are not immune to that, they are also expected to show how they execute their daily duties so that they can be assisted where assistance is needed,” he said. 

Nhlengetfwa said it should not be a challenge for the teachers to cooperate and give the required information to the head teachers if they are confident about their work.  “The only people who will be panicking here are those who are not executing their daily duties to the required standard. It should not be a challenge sharing the information if one knows that they are doing their job well,” he said.

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