This article was written by Moeletsi Mbeki, author, political commentator and entrepreneur. For me personally, it highlights a point I have long believed – that all LEADERS must be very well EDUCATED. And, that the only way to true freedom in this world is through education. I feel that many of the leaders of South Africa would do good to go back to their school textbooks and LEARN. This would be the biggest and best example of all for the meaning of a richer life with great opportunities. As I once heard DJ Fresh from 5FM say: “Get rich the old fashion way – work hard”.

What you teach your children forms their lives. We were surrounded by books growing up. I remember trying to read my first novel about sailors and boat operators on the Volga River in Russia. It was a complete mystery to me, coming from a village in the Eastern Cape trying to imagine this vast river. My parents owned a store and as my father was the Eastern Cape editor of the New Age, a left-wing newspaper, we not only sold it but read it. We worked in the shop, which I liked, but when my mother would call us to help in the garden I didn’t enjoy that as much.

I wanted to help grow the country, I just didn’t know how. When I left school I wanted to do civil engineering. Growing up in the 1950s I saw the huge changes that were happening in Africa and dreamt of building new roads and bridges. But I couldn’t stay away from politics and economics and the route for me then became journalism.

Social and economic problems exist in many countries. We tend to think our problems here are unique. When I was studying for my MA in England in the ’80s, I learnt a lot about the rest of the world. There were students from all over Africa involved in organising against various causes, including apartheid, and I was right there with them. I looked at colonialism, which was bad for us in the receiving end, but I realised the British had also been colonised, first by the Romans and then a host of other countries, including the French. The reality is that land everywhere is owned by minorities – minorities with the most power and weapons.

The only way out of poverty is solid, powerful leadership. In a follow-up book to Architects of Power I was asked to edit Advocates for Change, focusing on the solutions to Africa and South Africa’s problems. The big issue is leadership, which is missing in South Africa today. The ANC, except for a brief period in the 1940s and 1950s, have been followers. The fact they didn’t lead was one of their weaknesses. When Julius Malema tells people if they own the gold mine they will be extremely wealthy, yes of course they would. But there are a lot of steps before you can become wealthy. He’s not leading, he’s just seeing which way the wind blows and amplifying that. This is one of South Africa’s major problems. You need solutions, the capacity to innovate, the ability to implement by mobilising the required resources and the capability to create followers. Right now the ANC are following the followers.

What makes a great leader?

Nelson Mandela was a great leader because he identified that Africans were moving from rural to urban areas early on, so he focused on Johannesburg, where the population was going. That was innovation. He spent 27 years in prison and realised while there that the National Party had hit a cul-de-sac, and so offered them a way out. The ANC told him he was a sell-out, a traitor. He said, in The Long Walk to Freedom: “There are times when a leader must move out ahead of the flock – go off in a new direction, confident that he is leading his people the right way.” We need that now.

We must wake up and see the future. What we have now is Jacob Zuma and Julius Malema following what they perceive to be the lowest common denominator – that’s not leadership – that’s followership! COPE is no better. They have no policy. People suggested I run as their leader, but I’m a political analyst not a politician. COPE thought they could do ANC policies a bit better, economic empowerment a bit better. But if the policies are flawed, you need to come up with new policies. COPE is a clone of the ANC.

We must harness the brilliance of our youth. In my capacity as political analyst for Nedbank I talk to young asset managers of all colours. I’m very optimistic about this generation. I know that Jacob Zuma is not a leader, nor is Julius Malema. But these emerging young people are focused, educated and, above all, are not preoccupied with race issues. Look at the DA’s Lindiwe Mazibuko – she has passion coupled with great intelligence.

All South Africans need to become proud citizens. After the Fifa World Cup, everyone was asking: “How do you bottle that feeling, that unity?” Sadly, you can’t. Those moments fade. Again, you need a leader to keep it going. When you’re in China you notice a level of confidence. Everything works smoothly and there’s a disciplined pride in being Chinese. The same applies in the US. Immigrants have to learn English and read “how to” books such as, “how to cook a hamburger”. They become proud Americans. We need that.

Life is too short to waste a second. I’m often asked about hobbies and people are surprised when I say my work is my hobby. Ask what I’m reading and it’s books on politics and world economies. This is what I love.

Written by Moeletsi Mbeki and originally published at Leader.co.za.

There is always much debate about the education system in South Africa. There are many positive and negative arguments, for and against our education policies, the Department of Education, schools, teachers, principals and learners in general.

There is certainly no doubt that there is a massive difference between the level of education at our former ‘model C’ schools and of our disadvantaged schools. I call them disadvantaged schools because that’s what they are – disadvantaged.

What really constitutes an advantaged and a disadvantaged school though? Is an advantaged school one where you walk into every classroom and see an interactive whiteboard and a laptop in front of every learner? Is an advantaged school one that is built out of bricks and has airconditioning, electricity and running water?

Personally I think that there is more to being an advantaged or disadvantaged school than just what the school ‘owns’ or ‘has’.

People were created with a natural instinct to do great things even without great resources at their disposal. There are countless success stories of disadvantaged schools making education happen without having all the fancy gadgets (or even the basic necessities!) that their counterparts have in the leafy suburbs.

But why then is there still such a high percentage of learner failures, particularly from the disadvantaged schools?

I was watching an episode of Special Assignment a while back, and something that a black teacher said really struck a cord with me. I don’t remember her name or what school she was from, but the gist of her argument is that the poor quality of education happening at disadvantaged schools is a legacy of the old and racist ‘Bantu’ education system in which for every R10 spent on a white learner, only R1 would be spent on a black learner.

Quite shocking, but if you think about it, it makes sense. People are quick to blame teachers for incompetence and laziness, but many of the teachers at disadvantaged schools are themselves a product of Bantu education. Of course, this doesn’t make teachers from advantaged schools any better, but the past is the past, and there is nothing we can do to change it. However, there is a lot we can do to fix it.

In a September 2010 article on Teacher’s Monthly, Dr Malcolm Venter writes:

The recent public servants’ strike was perceived to have been mainly about money – about increased salaries and better conditions of service. However, that is not the real issue. Underlying it all there was a deeper, more sinister, issue.

The State’s argument that it could not afford more was ludicrous and insensitive in the light of its wasteful spending on fancy cars, homes and hotel stays, its corruption, the unaccounted-for millions, etc. So much so that it became evident that the strike was about the perceptions of the populace that the high-ups in government were only concerned with feeding at the through, of the tendency towards ‘a predatory elite’ (as Vavi of COSATU put it so accurately).

Lester Venter, in his book When Mandela Goes (1977), writes:

South Africa has now experienced a political revolution, and is confronting the early stages of a social revolution. The first prepared the way for the second.

He points to the ’development gap’ between the two worlds that make up South Africa—the first world and the second. He then goes on to say:

The change has still to come. And come it will. Moreover, change will not come primarily through the actions and policies of government. It will come from underlying forces to which governmental action will usually be a confused response.

Expectations have been aroused. Those in whom they have been aroused will not tolerate the frustration of unfulfilment for ever. Even if a present, older, generation is—to some degree—resigned to the immutability  of life and acceptant of a pitiable fate, the sons and daughters of the next generation are not. Expectations are self-fulfilling, at least partially. A process of change is already in motion. Change in South Africa didn’t end when the results of the 1995 election were announced, as many people seem to think. In truth, that’s when change began.

I don’t think that giving a disadvantaged school an airconditioner, a computer, a brick hall, or a jungle gym suddenly makes that school any more advantaged. I think that the Department of Education needs to focus on strong training and retraining of existing teachers, and make the teaching profession something that people really admire and look up to. I believe that is crucial for the improvement of education.

Watching Top Billing’s recent episode on Mandela Day, it is obvious that Nelson Mandela considered education to be one of the strongest weapons in fighting for freedom. Not just politcal freedom, but also the greater freedoms that education gives. The ability to be successful, to help others, to understand the world and make a real difference. These things come from learning.

Lets face it, one can say that talking like this amounts to racism or whatever, but the point is that nothing will change until South Africans face facts and start talking. For all his obvious rudeness, media blunders and now possible corruption charges, at least Julius Malema has made people start seriously thinking about the differences between the rich elite and the derelict poor.

Over the past few months there has been a fair amount of media coverage on Finland’s education success. Bert Maes wrote an article regarding this:

Explaining the excellence of the schools in Finland is extremely complex. They have beautiful school buildings, well-trained teachers, state-of-the-art technology any fancy textbooks, but that doesn’t explain everything. I will not present an exhaustive or exclusive explanation for Finland’s success, but 10 CHARACTERISTICS MAY BE HELPFUL TO UNDERSTAND:

1. When Finnish kids turn 7 years old they go into compulsory primary school during nine years. All kids start at the same level, no matter what socio-economic background they have. They learn the basic knowledge, skills and attitudes of lifelong learning, which is consistently paying off with better academic achievement in later grades. These primary schools are places where playing and learning are combined with alternative pedagogic approaches, rather than mere instructional institutions.
2. All teachers are prepared in academic universities. Teachers are highly respected and appreciated in Finland, partly because all teachers need a master’s degree to qualify for a permanent job. And the selection is tough: only 10% of the 5000 applicants each year are accepted to the faculties of education in Finnish universities. Finland improved its public education system not by privatizing its schools or constantly testing its students, but by strengthening the education profession and investing in teacher preparation and support. Their high level knowledge and skills makes that Finnish teachers:
   - can have considerable independence in the classroom to choose their preferred appropriate pedagogical methods;
   - are very willing to continuously update their professional skills via post-graduate studies;
   - are more willing to work on themselves, are open to new ideas and developed broader perspectives;
   - are eager to be involved into the school development processes in their own schools as well as in national and international projects.
3. Since the 1960s political authorities always have seen education as the key to survive and thrive in an increasingly competitive world. All governments, from left to right have respected over the past 4 decades, that economic growth is the primary goal, with education as the critical driver (according to some researchers, education explains 25% of Finland’s growth): “Investment in people is the best investment”.  To be competitive, the governments concluded, Finland has to substantially boost investments in education and research to foster innovation and cutting-edge development.
4. Because the central government ensured sustainable funding to ensure FREE education for all, i.e. took care of ALL costs of tuition, warm school meals, learning materials, text books, transportation, new equipment, new facilities, student counseling, etc,  the teachers are able to focus on teaching and learning, and bringing new ideas and practices in schools.
5. There are no mandatory tests or exams; except for the nationwide National Matriculation Examination, in mother tongue, foreign language, mathematics and social/natural sciences, at the end of the upper-secondary school (from 17-19-year-old). Teachers make their own assessment tests, not quoting numeric grades, but using descriptive feedback, no longer comparing students with one another. This helped teachers and students focusing on learning in a fear-free environment, in which creativity and risk-taking are encouraged. Teachers have more real freedom in time planning when they do not need have to focus on annual tests or exams.
6. Trusting the schools and teachers is a common feature in Finnish schools. Schools receive full autonomy in developing the daily delivery of education services. The ministry of education always believed that teachers, together with principals, parents and their communities know how to provide the best possible education for their children and youth. Except for guidelines for learning goals and assessment criteria, The National Board of Education (taking care of curriculum development, evaluation of education and professional support for teachers) doesn’t dictate lesson plans or standardized tests. School can plan their own curricula to reflect local concerns.
7. For Manufacturing Education: In higher education, Finland offers university level studies or the polytechnics insitutions.  The polytechnic system was the focal point of education policies in Finland during the 1990s and the top priority for regional development. There is a wide consensus on increasing technology, environmental sciences and entrepreneurship education – all of which seem to contribute positively to economic development and growth. As a result regional support networks are developed to help schools and teachers to adopt new technology in education and incorporate technology into classrooms.
8. Building upon the expertise of local players, whose experience, opinions and abilities allowed them to indicate the best ways forward. The teacher unions and the educators themselves have always had the opportunity to be heard, to help crafting a blueprint of the reforms.
   - The key to get their commitment and support was tapping into and welcoming their expertise as professionals in laying the groundwork of reform. Expert committees of teachers, union representatives, university researchers, textbook authors and government officials designed the new frameworks, hashing out their differences and using each other’s valuable and varied expertise.
   - Another key was reassuring teachers would not lose employment security and salaries. Before the reforms even commenced the teacher trade organization achieved this in negotiating higher teacher compensation for the extra more demanding work.
   - Also experiments and pilot programs in developing curriculum reforms have helped ease concerns and win the teachers’ professional commitment. All experimental projects, coming from bottom-up as well, were monitored by university researchers, bringing a consistent culture of innovation in the Finnish education system.
   - Education reform could only have proceeded if it gave the teachers a way to maintain their pedagogical freedom, creativity and sense of professional responsibility, by allowing them to choose textbooks and learning materials, and to determine the best way to cover the curriculum.
   - he execution of new curricula, learning materials and new instructional methods was always carefully planned, province by province. Provincial Offices approved the plans from every municipality. The switch to a new reform was also guided by in-service training by a network of national level instructors.
9. Political consensus and the capacity of policy makers to pursue reform: governments, trade unions and employers’ organizations form a tripartite in Finland, closely coordinating, communicating and heading to a common goal. In many countries the opposing-parties usually polarize debates and public opinion. Since the beginning of the 1970s until 1987 the ministry of education had two ministers from the main parties, requiring close political cooperation, resulting in workable solutions as both parties could endorse them. This proved to be the key factor behind the continuity of Finnish education policy. The parties detached from their populist political objectives and strategic maneuvers and began focusing on the subject-matter, on cooperating and acting together. Via the close partnership between the labor organizations and the governments, between the employees and the employers, in both planning and implementation stages, the teacher union changed from external political pressure group into a stakeholder in government decision-making, i.e. into one encompassing labor organization, that looks at the interest of the COMPLETE SOCIETY, just like the government. This key element in good quality of governance and public institutions turned out to be the driving force of education performance and economic competitiveness in Finland.
10. Regional development and networking: Today the most important component of providing good education is the management and leadership skills of local political authorities, experts and school principals (carefully selected for their understanding of education development, their experience in teacher-education and their solid proven management skills). The key in the educational reforms was ‘how to find ways to help schools and teachers come together and share what they have learned about productive teaching techniques and effective schools’. The result was the creation of multi-level, professional learning communities of schools sharing locally tested practices and enriching ideas, and matching the needs for local economic development.

I do not necessarily agree to all of the above, but it makes an interesting comparison on the freedom the Finnish education departments give to teachers coupled with the importance they place on very high standards of initial teacher training as well as ONGOING teacher training.

So to answer the initial question, “Are South African teachers lazy?”: No. But many are poorly trained and poorly supported by the Department of Education. The Department of Education should be there to support teachers. Teachers should be there to educate and support learners. Right now I get the feeling that the Department of Education places more value on the learner than the educator. Without the educator, there is no learner.

When will the South African Department of Education realise that good education starts with the teacher?

Click here to watch a video on Finnish education by the BBC.

The following article by Jonathan Jansen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Free State, landed in my inbox a few days ago. I though it deserves a read, as it highlights the glaring misgivings of our current education system here in South Africa.

By Jonathan Jansen

I have in front of me the 2010 “Statement of Results” for the National Senior Certificate statement of a youngster who demands to study at university.

They are: Afrikaans 43, English 39, mathematical literacy 38, life orientation 78, business studies 41, computer applications technology 31, life sciences 28.

At the bottom of the certificate is this unbelievable statement: “The candidate qualifies for the national senior certificate and fulfils the minimum requirements for admission to higher education.”

Understandably, this young woman takes these words literally, and correctly demands a seat in any place of higher learning. With the young woman’s claim to study I have no problem. With the society that sets the bar for performance so low, I have serious problems.

Slowly, slowly we are digging our collective graves as we fall into a sinkhole of mediocrity from which we are unlikely to emerge.

We make excellence sound like a white thing. Behind a massive wave of populism, and in the misguided name of regstelling (setting right the past), we open access to resources and universities to young people without the hard work necessary to achieve those gifts and to succeed once there. Of course, you’re a racist if you question this kind of mindlessness; how else do you, as a politician, defend yourself against the critics of mediocrity in an election year?

I miss Steve Biko. In the thinking of black consciousness, he would have railed against the low standards we set for black achievement, in the language of the 1970s.

This young (incidentally black) person did not achieve anything above 50% in her Senior Certificate results for any exam subject, but we tell her she can proceed to higher studies. What are we saying? That black students are somehow less capable and therefore need these pathetic results to access higher education? No, I am sorry, but today I am angry about the messages we send our children.

I saw black parents and students squirm the other night when I addressed a racially diverse group of parents and students and made this point clear: “If a black student requires from you different treatment and lower academic demands because of an argument about disadvantage, tell them to take a hike.” (Okay, I used stronger
language.)

I saw white teachers squirm when I made the other important point: “If you have lower academic expectations of black children because of what they look like, or where they come from, that is the worst kind of racism.”

Our society, schools and universities have adjusted expectations downwards, especially in relation to black students, and that is dangerous in a country with so much promise for excellence.

As stories come rolling in from across the country for our Great South African Teachers book, I am struck by one thing. That many black professionals who are chartered accountants, medical scientists or corporate lawyers tell of attending ordinary public schools under apartheid, often in rural areas, and having teachers at the time who, despite the desperate poverty and inequality, held high expectations of their learners. There was no compromising on academic standards; there was homework every day; there was punishment for low performance; and there was constant motivation to rise above your circumstances.

Not today. Mathematical literacy is a cop-out, a way of compensating for poor maths teaching in the mainstream. Parents of Grade 9 children, listen carefully – do not let your school force your child into mathematical literacy because they will struggle to find access to academic degree studies at serious universities. Insist your child does mathematics in Grade 10 for that important choice determines what your child writes in Grade 12.

It is not, of course, mathematical literacy that I am concerned about; there are good teachers of the subject. It is about the message we send: that children can’t do maths.

In other words, a message again communicated of low expectations. Do not buy into this culture of mediocrity in the way your child makes subject choices. Also, tell your child not to take life orientation seriously; as you can see in the above results, there is no positive relationship between high marks in academic subjects and this thing called life orientation.

Small wonder young people with better results than those above are without work. The marketplace, and serious universities, know this child will not succeed with these kinds of results, even if Umalusi does not “get it”.

Die begin van die nuwe skooljaar en die indeel van nuwe klasse het my weereens laat besef hoe ‘n groot verskil die hoeveelheid leerders in jou klas kan maak.

Ek werk by ‘n skool wat in 2011 vriendelik verplig is om te vergroot, wat meegebring het dat al die klasse vergroot het. My kleinste klas het nou 30 leerders en my grootste klas 36. Dit kan nogal moeilik wees, veral aangesien ek tale gee, en daarom moet ek veral streng wees met my groter klasse. Tog is ek nie die onderwyser in ons skool met die grootste klasse nie. Ons Lewenwetenskap onderwyser sit met ‘n graad 10 klas van 56 leerders. Ons Wiskunde Geletterdheid onderwyser sit met ‘n graad 11 klas van 53 leerders. Is dit wat die grootte van ‘n klas aanvaarbaar maak die tipe onderwyser, of die tipe kind, die ouderdom van die kind, of is daar ‘n standaard waarby gebly moet word?

Ek hoor van onderwysers in ander skole wat kla wanneer hulle vir 28 leerders moet skoolhou en dit terwyl hulle nog assistente en “inter-active whiteboards” en rekenaars het as hulpmiddels. Tog verstaan ek hoe dit voel om oorweldig te wees deur leerders wat met afwagting na jou kyk en nie verstaan dat net hul teenwoordigheid alreeds vir jou moeg maak nie. Tog wil ek nie net kla nie.

Wat ek werklik wil weet is wat die ideale grootte van ‘n  klas is vir effektiewe, doelgerigte onderrig? In taal-klasse is interaksie tussen leerders belangrik vir kreatiewe denke en veral vir wanneer daar groepwerk gebruik word in ‘n les. Tog kan dit moeilik raak om te hanteer as die klas te groot is.

Behoort die maksimum grootte van ‘n klas 25, 28, of 30 te wees? Laat my weet wat julle dink.

Groete

Public statement issued by The English Academy of Southern Africa

The English Academy of Southern Africa is deeply concerned at the trends evident in the Protection of Information Bill and the proposed Media Appeals Tribunal, and calls on the government and the ANC to reconsider them. Both proposals are radically at odds with the spirit of liberation enshrined in our national Constitution, and represent a drift back to the oppressive spirit of the apartheid state. This neo-colonial trend should be halted before it gains momentum.

The proposals are silent on whose interests are to be served by the measures envisaged. There is, of course, a legitimate “national interest” and we would expect all legislation to serve it. However, the unfortunate history of the term in South Africa demands that we be explicit about its meaning in the democratic era. BJ Vorster gave “the national interest” priority over all other interests to justify the increasing oppression of the apartheid state. In the democratic state, then,  the national interest has to be interpreted in relation to the constitutional  concepts of the public interest and the right to know.  Failure to be explicit in this matter opens the way for “the national interest” to represent the political interests of the ruling party, or (even more narrowly) the government of the day.

The proposal for a Media Appeals Tribunal suggests that these dangers are real and immediate. A tribunal which is managed politically and is empowered to impose penalties which effectively shut down “troublesome” media is fundamentally at odds with democracy. To propose for serious consideration that South Africa establish such a body is a mark either of resorting by reflex to the totalitarian assumptions of the apartheid state, or of a cynicism which we would not wish to ascribe to any party in a democratic South Africa.

As a nation we must avoid replicating the profound errors of the past.  The two proposals discussed here threaten to undermine the national transformation project by recreating objectionable aspects of that past. They confuse key conceptual issues and in doing so open the way for approaches and actions alien to a democratic state.  Documents so fundamentally flawed cannot be satisfactorily amended. If the founding principles of a liberated, democratic South Africa are to be honoured and increasingly realised, nothing short of a radical rethink will do.

Johannesburg – The South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) has confirmed it is rejecting the government’s wage offer, a union official said on Sunday.

However, the union would not embark on industrial strike action and had formally ended the current strikes, Sadtu spokesperson Nomusa Cembi said.

“The union refuses to sign the document,” she said.

“Sadtu will continue to give full reports on the process to its members on the way forward.”

The government had offered a 7.5-percent wage increase and an R800 housing allowance and had included proposals on medical scheme payments and the minimum service level agreement.

This followed a three-week public sector strike.

The Sunday Times newspaper reported that re-elected Sadtu president Thobile Ntola said: “We still feel strongly that what government is putting on the table is immoral.”

“Quality public service cannot be delivered by computers, but by workers, human beings, and for them to be passionate and focused to deliver quality service, they must be paid very well,” he told delegates at the end of the union’s national congress in Johannesburg.

“What we are declaring from this congress is war with the government.”

The Democratic Alliance on Sunday said Sadtu had turned into a “reckless monster”.

This was due to the statement Ntola made on television on Sunday saying the union would make the country “ungovernable”, the DA said.

“The escalation of anarchistic rhetoric comes on the heels of yesterday’s (Saturday) statement that Sadtu has declared ‘war on government’,” the party said in a statement.

The DA said it was urging Sadtu members to put the interests of pupils first by terminating their union membership thereby ending the “financial lifeline that keeps this anti-education organisation, which is hostile to the interests of learners, alive”.

Sapa

Written by Johnny Modipa

It is nine o’clock at a certain secondary school in the township: typical school hours.

The school is surrounded by a barbed wire fence that has holes punched in at its various “strategic” points; and the huge dysfunctional iron gate does not work anymore and is therefore unlocked. Apart from the natural blessing of a thorn hedge that seemingly surrounds the school; there are traces of overgrazing throughout the entire yard of the school; in fact, one could easily mistake this school for an abandoned farmhouse.

On the western side of the farm – I mean the school – stands a sprawling dumpsite that gives off the overpowering smell of old dogs and all sorts of rubbish on what was previously a cauldron that bustled with the energy of numerous sporting activities.  The only souvenir to this fact is the lopsided and net-less goalposts that are decorated with rust.

On the eastern and therefore sunny side of the school, near the “parking lot” that is about two minutes away from the administration building; there are a few gentlemen engaged in a casual caucus. Casual because it’s hard to tell whether these gentlemen are visitors or school educators: some of them are dressed in casual golf shirts and appalling grey jackets straight from the stone age; others are sporting the most interesting hairstyles that are representative of the latest religious craze that exalts Haile Sellassie beyond human understanding; some of them are taking a few puffs of one of the famous brand of cigarettes, some of which are giving off a certain odour of banned substances; and the other one is busy whistling at a female learner who has just arrived, seemingly late if one was to judge by her efforts at hurrying to the nearest class. She, on the other hand, is dressed nicely in a white shirt, a pull-over jersey and an embarrassingly short navy-blue skirt. Her large earrings make a jingling sound as she runs to class, her long hair bouncing on her shoulders as she proceeds forth.

I gingerly move past these interesting circumstances and advance straight into the administration building. Since there’s nobody at the “reception area”, it is safe to proceed to the nearest office marked “Principal”. Upon entering without knocking, I become an unhappy witness to the sight of a very angry principal, sweating profusely from caning a silently crying and extremely disorientated female learner, whose small hands are a mixture of red and green from the administration of this form of punishment. Since it was wrong to barge into the office of the principal and therefore disturb him in the scope of his “duties”, I regard regards it as fair to walk around the school whilst awaiting an opportunity to see him.

Proceeding into a nearby classroom of Grade 12 learners, I come across a slightly nervous female teacher clutching at a textbook, trying her utmost with her broken English to teach these learners. They in turn seem to be disinterested in what she was teaching, apart from a few jeers as she fumbles her way through the textbook.

I decide to venture into the next class, where a flamboyant educator, dressed immaculately and articulating himself very eloquently, is busy teaching a class crammed to capacity by about fifty learners. Despite the terrible grammatical errors on their books and a serious molestation of the English language, these learners are more interested but they are extremely cold… an air conditioner is a myth to this class, there’s no electricity and a loose high-voltage live wire dangles dangerously from one of the plugs near the chalkboard.

About five of them are pregnant, four are sleeping, three are not concentrating, a few are concentrating but sit stone-faced without a single movement. Another one’s stomach rumbles in what can only be regarded as an unmistakable rumble of the pangs of hunger.

An urge to pay a visit to the toilets presents itself. A group of male learners who had been exchanging a cigarette scurries away as I approach. Passing by near the dark corridor that leads to the toilet, I shockingly stumble across a couple engaged in a rather intimate moment, and common sense states that they are learner and educator, judging by the dress code and a tell-tale age difference. Ignoring these two as guilt takes its course, I get into the toilets. The sight there is likely to make an elephant vomit. Never mind the smell.

Deciding that I have seen enough for a few minutes, I rush back to my car with the hope of quickly getting out of this school. To my horror, the front window of the car is broken and the car radio, together with other valuables, has wandered off by itself.

The above is not a fictitious story that is meant to tickle the taste-buds of a literary fanatic. It is simply the medium that I have selected to document a few known matters and present them to the surface. It is this selection of circumstances that lead me to numerous questions.

In light of these circumstances, do we really have a reason to be surprised when the results fall short of the set objectives?

For those who have through sheer luck and serious commitment made it into the framework of tertiary institutions, do we really have grounds to express shock when they drop out before completing their first year?

Generally speaking, is it a coincidence that the majority of children from affluent, formerly model-C schools end up as corporate heavyweights and professional dynamites, as compared to those from a plethora of township schools? Exceptional cases of corporate world-beaters from the dusty streets are hereby purposefully ignored because they are tiny islands of success in an ocean of dismal failure.

Why is it that everybody is passive about the reproduction of these societal inequalities that eventually lead to the unequal disbursements of the chances of success and failure?

Where on earth did it go wrong?

Answers are clearly needed. The sooner we honestly identify our shortcomings and seek feasible solutions the better.

A Durban high school teacher has landed in hot water over remarks she made in her classroom, comparing her pupils’ behaviour to that of President Jacob Zuma.

The incident, for which the Reservoir Hills Secondary School teacher has been given a written warning, happened on Tuesday last week.

A parent who would not be named, said that the pupils had become noisy when the Grade 8 teacher had turned her back to them to write on the chalkboard. When the teacher turned back to them, the pupils quietened down.

“She asked the children why they were acting innocently, like their president. One of the children asked which president she was referring to and she responded ‘the stupid one, Jacob Zuma’. The pupil asked what their behaviour had to do with Zuma and the teacher said they were ‘not having a political debate’.”

Apparently, the teacher later commented that she had forgotten that she should watch her mouth because there were Zuma supporters in the classroom and she might get shot for her words. The matter was reported to the principal.

“What shocked the children is that they are 14 years old and have never even voted for the man. On what basis are they being compared to or associated with the president?”

Education Department spokeswoman Mbali Thusi said that the department was looking into the matter.

By Sinegugu Ndlovu, originally published by IOL