8 August 2008
opinion
Have we South Africans given up our dreams for a better future? Have we become so depressed by the soap opera that is our ruling party that we have lost faith in what we thought we could become as a nation?
These questions came to my mind when I saw the reaction to ANC president Jacob Zuma's statement that he would like to see a lot more resources spent on education, with free education for all who need it, right up to a university degree.
The proposal was shot down as dumb and impossible by virtually everybody, including many in the teaching profession itself.
To me it was the best thing Jacob Zuma had said since our liberation. I sincerely hope he said it because he believes it rather than because he's trying to please people.
I have seen first-hand the advantages of free and compulsory education in two societies which were otherwise deeply challenged: Cuba and Zimbabwe.
I have stated it over and over in this space and elsewhere the last decade that the ANC government's biggest crime since 1994 has been neglecting education. The poor quality of education we offer most of our black children is as big a threat to our medium- and long-term stability and progress as poverty, HIV/Aids and a thousand reckless Julius Malemas combined.
Without quality education for all our youngsters in the townships and rural areas, we can forget the ideal of a fair and equitable society. We will sit with deep resentment from the majority because of the continued inequality between black and white and because of the persistence of humiliating poverty.
If we do not jack up our education system very quickly, we will run out of young black people to benefit from affirmative action. We will have to settle for half-literate civil servants, police and soldiers.
But when the man who is supposed to become our next president offers us the dream of a new, enhanced system of education, we react with cynicism. We cannot imagine any longer that we can become a successful nation.
Most of our former Model C schools appear to be still very successful. The challenge is to bring all the township and rural schools to that level within a short period.
Clearly parents who can afford to contribute to their children's education should continue to do so. But it is shameful to see how the quality of education goes down as the neighbourhood becomes poorer. With very few exceptions, "no-fee" schools have low matric pass rates. If your parents are poor, you are going to get a bad education. That is the grim reality of South African education, still now in 2008.
Yes, it is true that simply throwing money after the problem is not the solution. But we will need to spend a lot more, and it will be worth spending more if it is accompanied by proper planning and a commitment to make it work.
We will need to start building and staffing tens of thousands of pre-schools where poor kids can get early stimulation - and proper meals for proper development. Kids whose parents both work or are not in a position to stimulate their children for the first few crucial years will go to Grade 1 with a handicap they will find hard to overcome.
We have to spend a lot more resources and energy training new teachers and retraining old teachers. The present minister's typical Thabo Mbeki-type obsession to rather have bad or no teachers than a white teacher with years of experience is a nonsense we should get rid of quickly. It's about education, it's about our children, not about racial quotas.
My experience of schools in townships and traditional black rural areas is that the buildings are generally poor and essential facilities such as libraries and science laboratories often non-existent. How on earth can that be true 14 years after liberation?
We need money, resources, commitment and smart planning to help our youngsters in the system now to be able to make the jump from matric to university.
And yes, we have to guarantee every youngster who gets above average matric results that he/she can go to university for free, at least until he/she fails a year. We'll have to institute systems whereby we make sure we don't send hundreds of thousands of young people to study sociology, political science and communication, rather than science, engineering, information technology and business.
To say we cannot afford to do all these things is like parents who say they can't afford to give their children proper food, because they have to buy clothes and cigarettes and petrol. You start with the food, and then go to the clothes. You start with education and then you go for the weapons and the salary increases and new aircraft and cars for ministers.
Come on, let us dream again.
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Shut up, hippy.
Do you think JZ does not know there are people like you willing to vote for him in what you think is a last desparate bid to save the future of South Africa.Do you really think he is serious? By the way I would not call Cuba and Zimbabwe great examples of free and compulsory education,I cannot remember when last either one was hailed for its prowess in this area.WHAT and HOW the children are taught,also has an impact.Social Impact as well,do not allow the parents to abrogate their responsibilities to the schools.Lets see more stay at home mums(who are… [Read Full Text]