Writing’s on the wall when Grade 5s can’t read it!
IWAS shocked to read the report from last week’s Edu-Week Conference in Cape Town. Apparently research has show that about 60% of South African children are unable to read – even in their home language – by the time they finish Grade 4. This is totally unbelievable and unacceptable. After five years of schooling, fewer than half the pupils can read? The report also mentioned that 80% of Grade 6 maths teachers didn’t understand the stuff they were teaching.
What have our teachers been doing for those five years? Toyi-toying? Playing computer games? Marching to Parliament? For goodness sake, even a mildly competent or vaguely interested teacher could probably teach a retarded cat to read in five years.
Without the ability to read, all other schooling seems pretty pointless. What’s the point of issuing schoolbooks if the kids can’t read them? How can anyone use a computer if they can’t read the messages on the screen?
You can’t go through life communicating entirely in emojis.
How will anybody know what’s happening in our country if they can’t read newspapers? Hey, wait a moment, could that be a clue to what’s happening here? If the people can’t read newspapers, they will not know about the widespread corruption and abuse of power among our rulers (they certainly won’t get it from our TV or radio news because the SABC is controlled by the very people we need to be protected from).
I hate to be a conspiracy theorist, but it would make political sense to keep the population stupid enough to continue to vote for a corrupt government. Ever wondered why the teachers’ training colleges were closed down?
The report in the Weekend Argus said technology was available to steer education in new directions, and one technologically sussed speaker told of computers that could read emotions and recognise voices.
That’s truly amazing, I agree. But down at the foundation stage of any child’s education is the vital need to be able to read. Without that ability, all the technology in the world means nothing.
The most vital years in a child’s education are the first ones. They should lay the foundation for all future learning. We are creating weak foundations, and that means the structure that is built on them is likely to collapse. We should not be surprised if we are hurt when it falls.
Last Laugh
The nursery school teacher was telling her class the story about the three little pigs and the big bad wolf. She told how the first pig had bought some bricks to build his house and the second one found some sticks to build his. Then she said: “The third little pig went to the farmer and asked if he could buy some straw to build a house. And what do you think the farmer said?” She paused and Jimmy’s hand shot up. “Yes Jimmy, what do you think the farmer said?” “Holy hell! A talking pig!”