Minister, you cannot manage what you cannot measure. You have admitted that the teacher absenteeism was last measured in this country during an audit in 2009. The system of registers which should be signed daily by teachers when they arrive at and leave school is widely abused. By your own admission, it is not entirely reliable.
You have now moved to the biometric clock-in system, which should not be necessary if all our teachers were professional people with high levels of integrity. They should be people whose word can be trusted. Not surprisingly, your alliance union, Sadtu, has stated that it would not co- operate with you on the implementation of the system. They complain that they have not been consulted. Minister, how do you intend exactly to overcome this hurdle?