NO EXCUSE FOR A DIRTY CLASSROOM
DURING my 39 years of teaching in a government school from 1977 to 2016 and up to now I have often wondered who was to blame for the rotten state of education in South Africa.
When this matter comes up in different discussion circles the Education Department is the answer most people come up with.
Among reasons cited:
• Not enough of the budget is spent on education.
• Too few teachers.
• Lack of high schools.
• Shortage of maths and physics teachers.
• Lack of sporting facilities.
I agree with all of the above. These are things all school communities must be more vociferous about.
Covid-19 has certainly brought this to the fore.
But the government is not solely to blame for our schools not succeeding.
As teachers, parents and learners we must dig deep into ourselves and ask what it is we are doing about our own education.
I visited a school that has been in the news since July 2020 because of its deep concern for the health of its pupils.
I found no graffiti on the walls, the classrooms were spotless and the toilets were in an absolutely hygienic condition.
Learners were neatly dressed in their school uniforms.
They greeted politely.
This school is but one of thousands in South Africa.
Here we have teachers and parents who take pride in their school and who will go the extra mile to keep it clean.
I asked the principal Mr Wesley Neumann how they managed to keep the school of over 800 learners clean.
He proudly said that it was a collective effort of parents, staff and pupils.
There are many disadvantaged communities where just the physical appearance of a school makes one wonder why it can be neat while another school in the same area is dishevelled.
I want to believe that teacher salaries have improved.
Yes, teacher unions must continue to fight for better working conditions but as teachers we must look after our school grounds and buildings.
They are our facilities and we must preserve them for future generations.
When I walk into a school and it is run-down and dirty, I blame the parents, teachers and learners who allow this to happen at their school.
I was a principal for 32 years and when I saw litter I would pick it up. Learners would say: “But Sir that is not your duty.”
Paulo Freire did this once in his classroom and students said the same to him.
Like his, my reply was: “Why can I not teach in a clean environment?”
We teach pupils valuable lessons in life when we literally get our hands dirty.
I remember a former Westerford High principal, Mr John Gibbon relating this story at a principals’ workshop.
He said he was not happy with the way the staff was cleaning the toilets.
He summonsed the staff responsible and then proceeded to take off his jacket, his tie and rolled up his sleeves and cleaned the toilets.
I remembered this as a lesson in life and it has stood me in good stead.
This is a valuable lesson for a teacher in the classroom.
You really have no excuse to teach in a physically dirty classroom.
I personally find it unforgivable when I find a school in a filthy state. We cannot blame the government. There is a Latin saying: Mens sana
in corpore sano – a healthy mind in a healthy body.