Church, society must reclaim role in education

METHODIST Church of Southern Africa presiding Bishop Ziphozihle Siwa called on the church and civil society to reclaim their role in education to change “the crisis in the education system”.

Siwa, also the South African Council of Churches president, was speaking in Butterworth on Saturday night at a banquet organised by the Methodist Church Circuit 322 to launch a fundraising programme to assist in the schooling of children from poor families.

He said if parents, the church and other civil organisations could realise that education was a shared responsibility, there would be fewer problems within the education system in South Africa.

“We cannot continue to be spectators. There are many efforts which must be celebrat- ed and replicated,” he said. However, it was the government who should take the lead and show commitment and create a conducive environment for other key stakeholders to participate in.

He said it was disappointing to notice that instead of focusing on the core business of teaching and learning, the Department of Education and organised labour were fighting, in the process leaving children to suffer. The future of our children cannot be equal to “a worker’s salary, or strip of the tarred road or even to winning elections”, he said.

“It far outweighs these and should take priority. The government and organised labour must stop playing games.

“Those who have been given the responsibility and resources to assist the nation, and paid through citizens’ tax- es, must be held to account.”

The bishop urged the government to look beyond “the politics of succession” where each minister came with their own policies and at the end of the term, a new incumbent introduced new policies.

Methodist Church Circuit 322 superintendent, the Rev Fikile Makananda, said: “We need to assist poor families even if they are not our church members.”