MANDLA RADEBE of Norkem Park writes:
Public education is a real source of a better life for all (not the ANC slogan), despite government’s appalling investment in it compared to population growth.
It is shocking to see how politically polluted public education has become, for example our educational standards and quality. The reason behind altering standards is because of what the politicians decide at the top and the professionals have to implement at the bottom.
Standards are altered not necessarily to better prepare learners for the future, but to make it look as though politicians are succeeding in educational management.
Standards in SA education have been compromised a number of times, for example dropping the pass mark from 50%, doing away with standard and higher grade in matric exams and the recent populist move of “progressing” failed learners.
Parliament is currently considering dropping the pass mark for maths further to 20 per cent. These are all political decisions taken so that at the release of results, some minister can say that the pass rate improved under their party’s watch. Quantity not quality.
Education has also been compromised through the abolishment of teachers’ power to reprimand.
Education has three stakeholders: the teacher, the parent and the learner.
Today, only the learners and their rights are important, no matter how badly they behave.
The teacher has to follow “policy” but not reprimand or else they lose the job. Learners can deliberately neglect their work and show disrespect, but they are protected, not teachers.
Parents are worse. Most can’t even take the responsibility of checking the progress of their children or consulting teachers on learners’ areas of weakness. But they are good in protests when children fail. Their conduct is horrific in the way they confront teachers in times of crisis. Some use vulgar language in front of their children against the teachers.
They flaunt money through gadgets like expensive phones purchased for children, who use them against the rules in class.
This is a sad case of a disrespectful message parents pass on to their children against the teacher. Your child will respect those who you respect, not those who you instruct them to respect.
Disrespect begets more disrespect. I witnessed this filthy swearing by parents and learners recently in a local school which had a high failure rate crisis. Tragically shocking!
Teachers contribute to the problem too. Some have been politicised, some lack integrity to do their work to the full. Trade unionism and claiming rights while neglecting responsibility is the main thing for them.
Some miss classes or are absent from school for days with no consequences. Some engage in issues that have nothing to do with teaching and educating. Some are good at attending meetings, but teaching always comes last.
Unfortunately, this tarnishes the image of diligent teachers.
All three stakeholders have to work together to build the learner, not an unemployable criminal.
Public education needs society’s protection, regardless which school the child attends.
We will pay a huge price for neglecting public education problems just because our child goes to a private school or doesn’t go to a “problematic school”.
Will we always afford private education? Why are we failing to talk to the authorities about what is going wrong? Are we happy with a society where the solution is always more money? Is that the right society?
Should human rights be a substitute for respect and authority?
The time for looking the other way is over; we have to care for what is ours.
The schools belong to the communities. Those that come into it to educate or learn must leave them in a better condition than they found it. If we fail to send that message to our community, we are all failing as good stewards.
