Still long way to go to improve education in South Africa

CONGRATULATIONS to all the matriculants who made it.

To those who failed, it is not the end of the world. There’s always light at the end of the tunnel.

Without beating about the bush, South Africa is in deep crisis and if we don’t attempt to save ourselves from this crisis we’ll end up asking ourselves endless questions.

South Africa invests more than 15% of its financial budget in the Department of Education. We spend more on public schools than Britain, Germany and the US.

With all that investment we don’t seem to get fruitful outcomes.

Nic Spaull, of the University of Stellenbosch, said, “South Africa has the most unequal school system in the world.” This is evident yearly. But what are these challenges? South African children come out of school without the three basic Rs of education, that is the ability to read, write and do arithmetic (mathematics).

This is the current learning crisis even globally.

Here are some of the reasons why learning doesn’t happen:

ý Our pupils come to school unprepared – that’s if they even pitch up for school.

Some of our pupils are absent from school because of malnutrition and low parental investment (there’s a need for parents to see into it that kids do their schoolwork);

ý Teachers often lack skills to motivate our pupils;

ý External inputs often fail to even reach classrooms or to affect learning when they do;

ý Poor management and poor governance that often undermine the quality of schooling.

Teachers do not have the basic pedagogic and content knowledge competencies needed to import the skills needed by our pupils.

Teachers working under poor conditions is one the factors which undermine teaching as a professional development profession.

State resources in South Africa are used in an inefficient manner with little accountability and transparency.

In South Africa, there is inadequate support for teachers and bureaucracy in the Department of Education.

It is not a secret that our teachers no longer get the respect they deserve from the government of South Africa.

In fact, teaching is no longer seen as an important factor/contributor in society.

One of the most notable challenges in the education system of South Africa is the constant shift in South Africa’s educational curriculum.

The Department of Basic Education fails to deliver on its core responsibilities.

By core responsibilities I mean the delivering of books (textbooks to be precise) on time, shortage of teachers in public schools, teachers’ salaries and so forth.

With the growing concerns over the learning crisis in South Africa, our pupils do not have a culture of reading, and there is a lack of motivational push to learn from their communities (the relations between education and society) and families.

Also, the inability to enact all the basic functions of teaching are endemic in many South African schools.

There’s growing power dynamics between the state and a seemingly all-powerful teachers’ union (Sadtu).

There is a lack of basic amenities, infrastructure and learning resources in our townships and in rural schools.

Even at times when the state is making attempts to improve the infrastructure, in some area communities vandalise state infrastructure and then claim that the government isn’t delivering anything to them.

A close friend, Athandile Mtiki, said, “We must own education too as the people; government is for the people, who are the people?

“It’s us, we must not fold our arms where we can assist.

“Education is broad, hence the need for capable community members to come on board.”

The real question is; how can we assist (possible solutions)?

We simply need turnaround strategies for the above-mentioned challenges.

Early childhood development is vital for our young pupils.

The government of South Africa could start by investing in pre-school education.

The idea of state owned pre-schools is not a bad one, because they would help children with the ability to read and write before they start primary school.

Early in the schooling, the focus should be on producing pupils who can read, write and count.

The state should re-open teacher training colleges, since these colleges provided a focused approach in the development of teaching and instilled a sense of pride among teachers. The state should also be dedicated to improving the resources and infrastructure in townships and rural areas.

Stabilising South Africa’s education curriculum needs to be done through the involvement of all the stakeholders in developing an effective curriculum for South Africa.

The Department of Basic Education should also ensure the rapid filling of vacant posts, the efficient handling of disciplinary cases and the support of teacher development.

The government should take political control of the education system and depoliticise unions in the education sector.

State resources in South Africa are used in an inefficient manner with little accountability and transparency