Beyond the norm

Teachers are extraordinarily resourceful people. Grocott’sMail’s visit to public schools on opening day revealed them having found workarounds for challenges that included too few classrooms, too few teachers, workbook delays, too many pupils and no furniture.

What emerged was a picture of professionals focused on getting the business of teaching and learning under way. For most Grahamstown schools, at least, there’s enough infrastructure for them to operate. Starting to show their effects are various initiatives to boost the resources of schools across the city.

You’ll have read on the previous page about the extraordinary success story that is the Gadra Matric School.

Last week, you read about the role of organisations such as youth education-focused NGOs Ikamva Youth and Inkululeko and in coming weeks, you can read in Grocott’sMail about Rhodes University Vice Chancellor Sizwe Mabizela’s education project.

Grahamstown is very lucky to have dedicated and skilled people who understand how important education is to the future of everyone who lives here.

But in other parts of the Eastern Cape, of 60 schools that Equal Education visited at the end of November (when it became illegal for South African schools to be without water, electricity or toilets, or to be built from wood, mud, asbestos or corrugated iron), 17 were in violation of the Norms and Standards set out in a court ruling three years ago.

It seems that teachers have the right attitude, but someone else hasn’t.

@SusanMaclennan2