FEW would dispute that better education for all is probably the key to all things good in the future South Africa.
But it will certainly be very difficult to get there if those in positions of power, who set the goals, aren’t educated enough themselves in the first place.
At the moment, it seems like the illiterate-leading-the-illiterate in many cases.
As an example, the Herald managed to get its hands on a document sent to all schools by the KZN Department of Education headed: ‘2016 Provincial Assessments Grade 3 English Test Term 2’.
The layout of the exam paper was obviously done by a real amateur and even had teachers scratching their heads in disbelief and confusion.
However, most embarrassing were the literary mistakes. Grade 3 pupils had to read an extract from B Atcheson’s ‘African Sunset’ series. It’s doubtful Atcheson himself – or his editors – missed these mistakes, so one can only assume the departmental compiler needs a few lessons in English him or herself:
“He used a spade to tilt the soil.”
“Sifiso cut the vegetable and gave mum to cook them.”
Imagine what farmer dad would think if little Sifiso came home and said: “Dad, can I help you tilt the soil?” After that, Sifiso is going to walk into the kitchen, just cut the damn vegetables and keep ‘mum’ to mum for fear of another cuff about the earhole for using poor English.
Mind you, not that education was all that much better 45 or so years ago, in certain circumstances.
‘Latin’ turned out to be a total waste of time as one could never find anyone to speak to in the language after school. Now the only words most of us can remember are: amo, amas, amat, amamus, amatis and amant (depending on the status of one’s love life).
As for ‘biology’, dissecting frogs and learning about ‘pistils’ (the female organ of a flower) was a total letdown. We never did get around to what all hormonal teenagers wanted to learn about – the ‘birds and the bees’.
That lesson came after school. Most of us rose to the occasion after a little tickle and error, but there were those who failed dismally.
How were they to know what the repercussions could be without proper ‘biology’ lessons? Heck, they even kept condoms hidden under counters in those days!
Imagine the embarrassment when the pretty pharmacy attendant asked a pimply teenager: “What size?”
Nervous cough: “Errr, medium, please.”
Smirky reply: “Now, do you want a pack of three or 12?”
Maybe that mayor in the Uthukela region has hit the spot by offering bursaries to virgins. Now that’s really thinking outside of the box.
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