Rural students as good as urban students
Making schools count
Ideally the geographical location of a school should not determine or seal the fate of students. There should be no distinction or variation in terms student outcomes based on location. Accidental circumstances of birth should not stand in the way of students and should not have any bearing on learning outcomes. Permitting location to influence student outcomes would defeat the very purpose of education.
Education is designed and intended to be an equalizer of society, to bridge and close gaps between town and rural dwellers. Learners across districts, if subjected to the same curriculum and standard of classroom instruction, should more or less stand on the same pedestal in terms of academic achievement levels.
However, save for rare examples set by Matsha College (Kang), Masunga Senior Secondary School and Mahupu Unified Secondary School (Takatokwane), the stark reality on the ground is that there is a significant gap separating achievement between rural and urban students. Drawing from the inspiration of Mahupu and others, there is a ray of hope that rural-based schools can redeem themselves and serve their students better. There is evidence to suggest that leadership has everything to do with the upward academic mobility and transformation experienced by some of our public schools. In a bid to ‘jump start’ chronically low achieving schools characterised by not only low-test scores but also chaos and anarchy.
A deliberate decision was taken way back to recall from retirement a few gifted school principals. The arrangement was to witness the return into the public service, albeit on contract basis of Tshokologo Dineo and Edwin Keatimilwe. Plans were afoot to enlist the services of a few other equally talented and seasoned school principals for purposes of turning around the fortunes of identified struggling public schools.
The idea was to strategically deploy the crème dela crème in far flung places for purposes of giving rural schools a new lease on life. To their credit the two veteran school managers (Dineo and Keatimilwe) demonstrated a deep sense of patriotism when at their advanced ages agreed to serve at Kang and Takatokwane. And the veteran leaders wasted no time in proving that our schools require leaders endowed with exceptional abilities.
The deployment of Keatimilwe at Mahupu in 2018 laid the foundation for a robust and rigorous teaching culture. Within a short space of time he had restored some semblance of order and discipline and achieved some sense of urgency. Unfortunately, Keatimilwe died in 2019 before he could actually see the fruit of his relentless efforts. But his successors never looked back but are continuing to build on the foundation well laid and it is no small wonder that today Mahupu is proudly sitting at position three.
Indeed rural learners are as good as their urban-based counterparts. The deployment of Dineo at Matsha College equally paid dividends. On arriving at Matsha, he discovered a school where a laissez-faire atmosphere reigned supreme. This was a school with no ambition and no hope. Expectations of staff and learners had sunk to the lowest level. Some members of staff due to poor morale had already expressed a desire to leave the school. However, Dineo’s sound administrative acumen and his inspirational instructional leadership were to have a telling effect on the fortunes of the school.
He inspired confidence among his staff, won the admiration and respect of the students and achieved overwhelming community support. Within a period of two years, Matsha College made significant gains on student scores and discipline. Ultimately Matsha College found a respectable place in the top 10.
Clearly there is nothing wrong with teachers working in rural environments. All teachers and students, regardless of location, are fundamentally good. If properly led and inspired, they can deliver as expected. It is important to start managing schools much more efficiently and effectively.
To improve school governance and accountability, Professor Jaap Kuiper calls for “the development of Professional Standards for School Heads spelling out in practical and context-based examples what managers are expected to be able to do.” Our schools do not have proper training before assuming their delicate responsibilities and professional standards will provide a useful guide.