Bill won’t fix our failing education system
It’s details are vague and insufficiently aired in needy communities
DESPITE the fact that the date for submission of comments on the Western Cape Provincial Schools’ Education Amendment Bill expired last Friday, I am compelled to add my comments. I feel strongly that the details of the bill are vague and have not been sufficiently ventilated and explicitly brought to the attention of a cross-section of people to whom it is directed and matters most – oppressed, disadvantaged, primarily “black” school communities.
I also find it objectionable that the notice for submissions and public hearings on the bill under the heading “Have Your Say” in the media was done (I suspect, deliberately!) in almost microscopic print which I had difficulty reading.
I also find it unacceptable that an “Education Department” can busy itself with trivial, unlawful and redundant amendments of this nature.
It should rather focus on the realisation of the objectives of its mission statement, which states: “Our primary objectives are to improve the language and mathematical skills of learners; to improve matriculation results and improve access to quality education in poor communities.”
It is therefore not surprising that the Education Department is experiencing tremendous difficulty in the delivery of quality education to the youth of our country!
The most salient points about the bill make provision for, first and foremost, the establishment of an evaluation authority.
This body will be headed by a chief evaluator who might or might not have the required insight, knowledge, expertise and experience in the education arena.
Finance has apparently been provided for the project and positive feedback has been received from a successful pilot project run at 42 schools over a year.
Are schools not sufficiently overburdened with evaluation programmes, which very often detract from the actual teaching and learning that should be the focus in education?
Secondly, special provision has been made for the establishment of collaboration and donor-funded schools. There seems to be very limited and vague information, without clear guidelines available about these schools.
This education model is one that has been copied from Britain, the USA and Sweden, and reminds one about the notorious outcomes-based education which had to be scrapped.
It is also said that these schools will most probably “buy” representation and decision-making on school governing bodies of public schools through the use of money and numbers.
Thirdly, the bill makes provision for the establishment of intervention facilities to cater for alleged “delinquent learners found guilty of serious misdemeanours at educational institutions”.
This facility is suppose to act as an alternative to expulsion. It is said to be a therapeutic measure implemented for two months. This project is also subject to parental consent and the availability of a budget.
Again, we are told that this intervention has apparently been successfully applied as a pilot project at Die Bult in George.
I hope that detailed feedback will be provided on this project to enable one to ascertain and judge this success alluded to.
One can only be sceptical if one imagines all these “delinquent” learners gathering in the same environment for the purpose of rehabilitation and sharing their ”experiences”.
With the obvious stigma attached to the nature of this facility, one wonders what happens when these learners are eventually reintegrated back into their former schools.
Would this not lead to worst behavioural outcomes, as happens with the prison system in this country?
This facility could be very challenging, especially in the majority of poorer schools because “misconduct” covers a wide spectrum and we could be treading through a minefield.
Lastly, and most importantly the most contentious and controversial point is the establishment of a provision for addressing “restrictive legislation” re the sale and consumption of alcohol on school premises.
This bill, sometimes referred to as the “school booze bill”, is apparently subject to ridiculous, and again, vague Western Cape Education Department (WCED) provisions to be sanctioned by heads of department, and in addition, to conditions imposed by the Western Cape Liquor Act of 2008.
It is said that the Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshega, called for a halt on this amendment until she has colluded with WCED MEC Debbie Schäfer.
The SA Democratic Teachers’ Union responded to these amendments by engaging in semantics and not being brutally honest and principled. Their objections seem to be focused on the fact that the bill has been promulgated by the DA.
It would be helpful if Schäfer would go to the trouble of explaining why she says the key objective of this proposal, to allow for the sale of alcohol at schools, was to make provision for “restrictive legislation” around it.
Further to the above, I would personally also like to reject this proposal in the strongest possible terms.
I also find it totally unacceptable that this “Education Department” wants to convert our schools into shebeens or taverns, as if we do not have enough of these disgusting outlets in our poverty- and crime-ridden townships or ghettos. (I noticed that you have two taverns and a hotel almost next to each other in Halt Road, Elsies River).
It was also highlighted by an official of the WCED that barring liquor sales and consumption at school functions resulted in parents and the public in general not attending and supporting fund-raising community school functions primarily in rural and township areas.
Are we now to understand that the sole purpose of this amendment is to dangle an “alcoholic” carrot in front of the faces of parents in order to ensure the raising of school funds, which in any case is the responsibility of the WCED?
“Let us live for our children.” This is the motto of the legendary Teachers’ League of SA.
No normal schooling in an abnormal society!
IS THE SOLE PURPOSE OF THIS AMENDMENT TO DANGLE AN ‘ALCOHOLIC’ CARROT IN THE FACE OF PARENTS TO ENSURE THE RAISING OF SCHOOL FUNDS?