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Article by Sisa Sityata-Soga
With the provincial education system having been under scrutiny from the media and various teacher organizations, along with members of society, the first day of the Education Summit had everyone nodding and applauding as the most challenging factor for the sector was thoroughly explored.
Lack of skilled educators, particularly in foundation phase, was singled out as the most basic challenge that the department faces.
Dissecting the education system whilst addressing a room full of expectant people at the East London Education Leadership Institute, Limpopo Education MEC Aaron Motsoaledi insisted that the provincial education system has a chance to thrive, provided that proper support and training of individuals pursuing the teaching profession is prioritised.
Laying in contrast the challenges faced by Limpopo and the Eastern Cape, Motsoaledi highlighted the similarities in the rural state of the provinces, the uneducated parents and poor matric results.
To this, he said other factors were at play and that lack of resources was not the main issue.
“Is our problem resources? Is it the main problem? No, the biggest problem we are faced with is developing of human beings. We lack skills”, he said.
Motsoaledi held that the simple concept of schooling needed no money and that facilities should contribute to 30% of the school’s success and “the rest is teaching and learning”.
With South Africa still being regarded as the most advanced country by other African counterparts, results of a research study conducted two years ago reflected the country’s education literacy and Maths skill as a serious concern.
The study revealed the literacy and Maths levels of South Africa as the lowest in the entire world with only a mere 6-10% of the country’s students achieving 75% or more, unlike students from developed countries worldwide and particularly in other African countries.
“The person you call a maths teacher no longer exists in South Africa today [as a result] we have to look North for quality teachers”, said Motsoaledi.
Reflecting on the impact that the pre-1994 government has had and continues to have in the education system, Motsoaledi regarded Bantu education as the main disease affecting the education system.
“The post apartheid African learner is the most abused person in this country. If you commit a mistake inside a medical operation somebody will die immediately. We will grieve and mourn and eventually forget. But if you commit that mistake in the classroom no one will physically die but there will be living corpses that will affect our economy after 10 to 15 years”, he said.
According to Motsoaledi the “mistakes committed in 1954 are still being felt by our society today.”
To deal with this concern, he urged the provincial education sector to shape up.
To educators he advocated the importance of a teacher’s presence in class, on time, teaching and making use of the provided textbooks.
To the education management, he urged for enhancement in the recruitment of quality teachers and the strengthening of teacher development by going back to the foundation phase until all the teachers in the foundation phase have had degree training.
“The problems that emanate in all other departments are the result of our poor education department. If you’re in a queue waiting to be attended to by a doctor at a hospital and hours go by without you getting any of the assistance you went there for, it’s important to realise that the problem is not with the doctor let alone the Health department, but that the problem lies with the education sector”, he said.
According to Motsoaledi, the education department still had a lot to achieve, in particular to the “awakening of the arrested human development”.
He said the department needed to take heed in appointing of individuals to positions they are unqualified for as this would take it nowhere.
“[When it comes to] Finance, Infrastructure & Engineering services, Information Technology and Human Resource, it is of utmost importance that the correct and qualified person be appointed for such positions, anything less would be cause for disaster”, he said.
With the past summits having yielded less to no results, EC Education MEC Mahlubandile Qwase was confident that 2009 year would yield different outcomes in all spheres of the education department.
Article Tags: educators
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