Network for Optimism

2008/12/19
ODDLY enough, this week I’ve felt a little more optimistic than usual about the state of education. Don’t mistake me. I didn’t say that education is getting better, only that I feel more optimistic about the future.

And, please note, my upbeat attitude has nothing to do with the education policies of any political party, whether in power, hoping to be in power, or clutching at straws. Policy is one thing, performance is another.

Nor is my optimism founded on hope for improved matric results. Although I’ll be the first to rejoice if we see an improved National Senior Certificate pass rate, it’s not the best indicator of the effectiveness of the education system. Matric pass rates only measure the achievement of the relatively few who actually write the exams. They don’t tell the stories of the more than 50 percent of children who fall out of the system on the way.

No, what I’m pleased about is the growing realisation among ordinary people that education, while it is a state responsibility, is too important to be left to government. With that understanding, on Monday this week, hundreds of teachers, parents, academics, religious leaders, non-profit organisations and education activists across the country formed Sekolo, a non-partisan network to encourage public participation in education.

And public participation is desperately needed. We need vigorous discussion, fearless debate and strong mobilisation to resolve what is clearly a serious crisis.

It’s unacceptable that our education system still fails the majority of children. It’s unacceptable that 14 years after the end of apartheid, and despite much policy that talks of redress and equity, the majority of children are hardly able to read and write, let alone earn a living once they leave school. Again and again, research shows not only that South African children do badly in comparison to other countries (including countries in our own region), but also that most children simply do not achieve the learning outcomes set out in our own curriculum.

It’s unacceptable that most schools don’t have libraries or laboratories, and it’s unacceptable that nearly half of households with school- going children experience a lack of learner support material. It’s unacceptable that we spend money on a dubious and yet-to-be-investigated arms deal while our children don’t have the means to practise reading and writing.

It’s unacceptable that we expect the majority of children to learn, be taught and assessed in a foreign language when we know how this compromises their ability to learn. We need to encourage parents and schools to give their children the advantage of learning in their mother-tongue, while at the same time ensuring that all children feel at ease in English. Not an easy issue to resolve, but we need to work on it.

It’s unacceptable that Grade R teachers are not expected to be as well-qualified nor as well-paid as other teachers, and that the schools they are attached to often don’t begin to understand the profound importance of early childhood. It’s unacceptable to dump young children into dreary classrooms to chant meaninglessly and wait endlessly for the teacher. It’s unacceptable that many are beaten when they make a mistake.

It’s unacceptable that the children who suffer most from the crisis in education are still poor and the rural. It’s unacceptable that for “poor and rural”, we need to read “black”. It’s unacceptable that over the poorest 40 percent of school communities educate 70 percent of Eastern Cape school- children.

And let’s not trot out the old lie that the poor are to blame for their condition. We – society as a whole – must take responsibility to change things.

Part of that responsibility is to call for an independent commission to investigate the issues and propose solutions. You can do that with a click of the mouse button: www.ppen.org.za or e-mail info@ppen.org.za for more information.

Your involvement would be a great Christmas gift to the children of South Africa.