Education account inaccurate

“EDUCATORS are in the business of education” (Alex Tabisher, “Literally Yours”, August 26).

While I agree with many of Tabisher’s sentiments there are, respectfully, factual inaccuracies in his account. As one of the recently retired teachers he refers to, I trust he won’t mind my “corrections”. Where I agree:

1 In government there is a closing of ranks and different rules apply the higher you go up the food chain.

2 We do have parallel strata of resources and expertise in education – but not as explained by Mr Tabisher (see below).

3 Teachers and principals should be allowed to teach and lead and not be encumbered by curricular and policy directives and officials that are political and not educational in motivation and intention.

4 Education agencies and institutions are “talking past each other”. His idea of a “think tank” is a good idea. Dialogue and debate do not appear to be valued or practised by the government or the WCED. A power dynamic and the illusion of a monopoly on knowledge may be at play.

Errors in fact and interpretation: 1 The reappointment of the head of education Brian Schreuder: He is not the minister but the SG (superintendent general). Debbie Schäfer is the DA-appointed minister of education.

2 The reference to “the millionaire departmental head”: While not unreservedly supportive of the person, why should the demanding position not receive commensurate remuneration? A similar position in the private sector would make him a multi-millionaire.

3 In terms of nomenclature, there is no such thing as a Model C school. There are officially only government / public schools and independent / private schools.

Model C schools is a defunct semi-private structure used in the governance of whites-only government schools in South Africa, introduced in 1991 by the apartheid government. The term “Model C” is still commonly used to describe former whites-only schools. They are not a homogenous group of school in terms of resources, parent / pupil body and location. Some are well to highly resourced, others are middle of the road, and yet others are struggling financially. Some are fully integrated, others no longer have any white children, and yet others are struggling to transform.

Many former Model C schools obviously still benefit from a history of privilege and political, structural and spatial segregation. These resources are used to attract qualified teachers, employ additional staff, offer more subjects, provide better teacher development and tools, and maintain facilities, etc.

In most societies, the education system reproduces the social / class system. That is the challenge facing South Africa and our education system. Instead of just knocking the well-resourced schools, why are there no incentives or rewards for teachers in trauma-impacted schools or to attract top teachers / leaders?

4 “Model C schools maintain excellence through many agencies, such as the quintile system.” That is incorrect. See 4 above for a more comprehensive explanation.

It is a pro-poor funding model with five categories of schools called quintiles. These quintiles determine how much government funding each school receives. The schools in the lower quintiles are declared no-fee schools and do not charge school fees. These schools get the majority of the government’s funding. The model alone can never be expected to address the inequalities.

Finally, in my view, the transformation of society is not the function of education. Transformation requires that all government departments are fully functioning, resources are correctly allocated to provide the services to uplift communities, and to collaborate with each other.

Sadly, little evidence of this at present.

Yet, there are educators and schools that, despite their circumstance, are daily caring, nurturing teaching and guiding our youth. Yes, Mr Tabisher, I agree, they are in the business of education. BRAD BAILEY | Hout Bay