Education – it’s not all bad news
SAXONWOLD – The ANC zone 16 which is one of the greater Johannesburg regional zones, held a house meeting in Saxonwold. The meetings are meant to bring community members together through dialogue and networking.
Guest speaker at the meeting was education expert Dr Braam Fleish who is head of the education department at Wits University; his research interests include education policy and school effectiveness.
He discussed the question, “Are our matriculants ready for tertiary education?” Dr Fleish gave credit to Gauteng Education MEC Barbara Creecy for the “enormous strides” and innovations made by the province in basic education.
“She’s been instrumental in turning around many primary schools in Gauteng,” he said. However, he said that many students who enter university do so lacking crucial knowledge and particular skills.
He added that high and primary schools needed to work together in building a solid foundation in preparation for university. In January, when the 2013 matric results were announced, the national pass rate was revealed to be 78.2 percent. Gauteng was the second best performing province with an 87 percent pass rate, up from 83.9 percent the previous year.
The PhD graduate of Columbia University said that, although media reports indicate a poor education system in the country, there had been great progress made in education since the birth of democracy 20 years ago.
He said although there were not enough schools, a good indication of where the future lies could be seen with the “increasing number of really good schools, even in the townships and talented principals who pull schools together”.
Dr Fleish said there was an improvement but much more needed to be done by government to increase the number of pupils who qualify for university admission.
