A Lesson in Poverty

2008/09/12

LAST week a group of students taught me about poverty and compassion. But hang on a second – I was supposed to be teaching them a course for their Diploma in Early Childhood Development (ECD). The curriculum, amongst other things, specifies that they should know about the grim effects of child poverty, so I had come prepared with a bunch of book-learned theories to teach them.

Early childhood development practitioners can be amongst the most important influences in a young child’s life. They should know about barriers to child development, including how poverty affects children and families. They must understand the wide and deep reach of poverty – that it is not just a lack of money, but comes with a whole bundle of disadvantages that interact to keep people poor for generations. They need to know that poverty deprives children of the chance to thrive and grow, that it prevents them getting good food, good health, safety, education, support, and adequate care and stimulation. Without these things children are more likely to grow up stunted physically, emotionally and cognitively. They are far less likely to break through the wall of poverty that keeps people back. They will probably grow up as poor as, if not poorer than, their parents.

And so the poverty cycle rolls on, generation after generation.

This understanding is particularly pertinent for Eastern Cape ECD practitioners, since the children of this province suffer deeply. The statistics show that eight out of ten Eastern Cape children live in income poverty, and by far the majority of municipalities in which children suffer most from multiple deprivations are in this province.

Clearly, then, limiting the appalling effects of poverty is sure to be a major part of the ECD practitioners’ everyday work. They need to identify poverty and try to mitigate its effects.

These women – very few men enter the nurturing world of professional ECD – have a pivotal role to play in the future of the children in their care. They should be able to offer a safe, stimulating environment where children can explore, play, and learn freely. Perhaps even more importantly, they should be able to provide the warmth, respect and encouragement that children so desperately need to build resiliency, that wonderful quality that helps us bounce back when life deals us a backhander. They could make all the difference to the children in their care.

But back to the class. One of the many burdens of poverty is the stigma that often goes with it. In my naivety, I was half-expecting to uncover the poisonous, and all too common, belief that the poor are somehow to blame for their condition, that handouts will only make them lazier, and that the cure for their poverty is to get off their backsides.

After all, as a middle-class woman, I have many acquaintances – including, memorably, at least one devoutly religious person – whose convictions that poor people are lazy, dirty, and deserve their fate rise to the surface like scum as fast as you can say “social grant”.

Talking of social grants, I was also ready for the old stories of how the child grant promotes reckless breeding, and that adults spend the R210 per month on alcohol and luxuries rather than the children – this when about 65 percent of grant recipients’ budgets are spent only on food.

But these ECD practitioners showed me that they know far more about poverty and compassion than I ever will. Our discussions showed they have a bone-deep understanding of the way poverty grinds at self-respect, energy levels, and hope. They gave examples of how much harder poor people have to work to gain the smallest benefit. They understand poverty because, like many in South Africa, they live intimately with it. To condemn the poor for their poverty means to condemn your mother, your neighbour, your sister and your friend.

So I came away from the class feeling uplifted, confident that these practitioners can contribute enormously to children’s wellbeing, and deeply humbled by the depth of their understanding and compassion.

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.

The Church Militantly against women and gays

So over one thousand Anglican clergy(men) have threatened to resign if women or gays are made bishops.

So what? Let them go, and good riddance. If the church represents Christ on this earth, I’m sure he would rather not have a bunch of bigoted sexists speaking for him.