Johannesburg — BASIC Education Minister Angie Motshekga and the nine education MECs are to decide today whether to scrap this month's school holidays to make up time lost to the 20-day public sector strike, which was suspended on Monday evening, basic education department spokesman Granville Whittle said yesterday.

SA's public sector schools, many of which are acknowledged to be dysfunctional, have had two long breaks this year - five weeks during the World Cup and then the strike.

A JET Education Services analysis of 2006 matric exam results indicated that almost 80% of SA's schools, about 23 000, were "essentially dysfunctional" at a time when the matric pass rate was 66,5%.

It has since dropped to 60,7%.

Mr Whittle said Ms Motshekga will discuss the possibility of suspending the holiday, scheduled to begin on September 23.

The strike's effect on schools was "horrible", said National Professional Teachers Organisation of SA president Ezra Ramasehla.

"I see only negative impact, and I think I'll continue to see negative impact for a while," he said. Centre for Education Policy, Development, Evaluation and Management director Martin Prew said most of the school days lost to the strike would be made up if the September holiday was scrapped.

Dr Prew said that not enough was known about the effects of strikes on children and their learning, but any time lost in SA's "fragile" schools was worrying.

It was children who went to "working-class schools", rather than urban and former Model C schools, who were most affected by the strike, said Equal Education spokeswoman Yoliswa Dwane.

The Western Cape-based lobby group had supported the strike because it felt inequality was on the rise locally and globally, said Ms Dwane.

She said that attracting new young teachers into the profession, paying them well and providing attractive working conditions was "probably the biggest single challenge in South African education".

However, Ms Dwane emphasised that this did not mean that Equal Education condoned the violence and intimidation that had marred the strike.

Dr Prew said paying teachers a better salary was part of the wider goal of professionalising the career, and that while SA's state-paid teachers were well-paid by African standards, they were not well-paid by national professional standards.

Public sector unions have not agreed to the government's offer of a 7,5% pay increase, plus an R800 housing allowance, but suspended the strike on Monday night after the government revised its offer and asked for a return to the negotiating table , the Congress of South African Trade Unions said.

The unions want a 8,6% wage increase and a R1000 housing allowance.