Our country spends [a lot of] money on education. Yet we don’t get returns on our investment: the quality of our education remains low. African countries with low budgets have high quality education. Are we throwing money at the problem?
Research has indicated that many learners don’t reach matric, let alone finish it. What happens to those learners who leave school early? This means there are [only] a few students who finish their 12 years of schooling in our country. That’s a cause for concern.
For the better part of this year, the Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, has been missing in action. At least, in all the Cabinet reshuffles, she was not affected. Not so with the Higher Education Minister, Blade Nzimande.
2017 was not bad for our education: there were few disruptions and teachers’ strikes. That means most of our learners have spent more time in the classroom than outside. So we hope this is how things will be next year – and in the years to come.
[It’s a] pity our education is measured by the matric results – [that’s why] here is so much hype about matric results. As a result, more attention is given to Grade 12s. On the other hand, the Foundation Phase, which is very critical, is ignored.That said, our Grade 12 learners are busy writing their final examinations. This is one of the most challenging and stressful periods in their academic lives. This is the time that they need our support and encouragement. I wish to take this moment and wish the Class of 2017 the best of luck. They need it.
