South African Public Schools. My Thoughts!

pic credit: kijijichakajala.blogspot.co.za

It's a Friday afternoon and I am sitting in my office, sipping at my chilled Rooibos tea while typing this post. On Monday, schools will open again for this year's final term. Thinking about schools opening got me thinking at what we are doing to our education system. These are the few things that bother me and if you have a child in a South African public school, you probably can relate.

• Home work is just too much. As much as it is important for a child to some revision at home, such revision should not consist of 5 different activities or tasks for a grade three child in my opinion. For a previously disadvantaged parent who never got a chance to being educated, sometimes it is even difficult to help with the homework. After a day's work, your child needs you to help with the homework and if you are unable to help then the child loses out but if you can help, then you have to sit with your child for a minimum of two hours to go through the 5 activities. If you got home at 6, say you you prepare supper and finish eating by 8, then it means you will only finish homework by 10 pm. That child will go to bed late, wake up tired the next morning and you can imagine what her day in class will be like. It looks like most of the school work a child needs to do is being done at home or maybe the children are just expected to cover so much work in incredible periods which brings me to my next point.
• The work these kids are doing is just all over the show and in most cases too advanced for the grade. This may appear great but do they really grasp the concepts taught. It may not be worth while teaching something that is not grasped a bit by the learners. Something their minds can comprehend and grasp completely is much better. Memorising for a test should not really be the case in primary school as there is no knowledge gained there. Teaching the basics in a systemic manner that takes into consideration the stage of development the mind is would be a better deal according to me. There is really no need for 7 or 9 different subjects.
• Too many subjects that can be compressed into a handful when basics are taught. I am really tired of replacing by child's school bag every few months. The books are so heavy I can't even carry the bag for a long distance. Personally, I think the curriculum was designed for a kids whose parents have cars or transport to and from work. For a child that could otherwise walk for 15 to 20 minutes to school and back, the bag will be so heavy she will need someone to take them to school anyway. And that is not ideal. 
• Technology is great but the infrastructure has to be in place first. As much as South Africa wants to go on the developed world way of teaching, the basics have to be addressed first. We should not forget that South Africa is a unique country with an interesting history. Our communities are worlds apart. There are the so developed parts of South Africa you would think you're in some city in America. And there are some communities with appalling poverty even Zimbabwe's basket case is better in so many ways. So as much as we may want to embrace technology, such poverty issues still need to be addressed first. Development is a process and if you cheat or jump the line, you may not know how to handle yourself once in front. Real studies need to be carried out to fine tune what our communities really need now. It is not a matter of cut and paste from other countries models of education. Real work needs to be done. We are making the policies now and not a segregative government. If South Africa is to have a future, we need to address education of our people more effectively. If we are not making policies that address this, then we are failing our people everyday and generations to come. We are need to act now and not later.

Just my thoughts!

Ruth