A FEW GOOD PEOPLE
"FEED TRASH TO THE YOUTH AND THAT'S WHAT THEY'LL PRODUCE"
HERAKUT
Dreams, Schemes & Themes was meant to be a about the weird and wonderment of life and not about serious issues. It started as writing for fun and relaxation, but I’m been finding it hard to write on frivolous stuff. I’ve become stuck and I cannot move on before I express the way I feel about being a South African right now. For the first time since the birth of a democratic South Africa I’m starting to doubt and question the stable long term future of this beautiful country.
I am deeply disturbed by the state of education in South Africa. Being involved in the NGO educational sector I need to say clearly that this is my own thoughts and opinions and not those of my employer.
What tipped the scale for me to publicly express my views was the recent release of the Annual National Assessment results. This revealed that South African education is a fucking mess to put it mildly.
These results revealed that “Grade 3 learners performed at an average of 35 percent in Literacy and 28 percent in Numeracy and in Grade 6, the national average performance in Languages is 28 percent, while Mathematics performance is 30 percent.”
In other words more than 70% of children aged 12 - some 3 million - in grades one to six cannot read, write or count properly.
This is a recipe for disaster. This means that about 8 million young South Africans in 2016, using a conservative estimate, will be functionally illiterate, unable to succeed at a higher education level or finding meaningful employment. Coupling this to the current official unemployment rate of 25% (which some experts recons is closer to 37%) South Africa is heading for a Somali-like scenario. The sheer number of the unemployed trapped in a hopeless situation of hunger and poverty will mean that South Africa will most probably be in a state of anarchy and lawlessness by 2020 if things don’t change for the better.
I am proudly South African which makes this post doubly hard to write. I have never even thought of leaving the country and hate the negativity of a number of white South Africans of my age group grumbling and moaning about the State of the Nation. We made this bed and have to lay in it. As a middle-aged pale male who spend more than half my life being protected by the laws of an unjust and inhumane regime there is nothing to complain about. On the contrary, I feel an obligation to ensure that our children, and our children’s children, those of all colours and creeds can truly be part Madiba and Tutu’s Rainbow Nation.
I have a great respect for Prof Jonathan Jansen, the Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Free State. He writes a weekly column in the “The Times”. On the 6th of July he commented on the release of the Annual National Assessment results and the recently introduced Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement that is costing the publishing industry millions in the developing of new teaching resources;
“I am not sure with whom my sense of dismay is greater - the politicians who make-believe we need more data on the dysfunctional school system in order to improve it, or the uncritical citizens who swallow yet another load of official deception that would have us believe that somehow measuring learners (again and again and again) will miraculously lead to better results the next time round in literacy and numeracy.
We know what is wrong in the foundation years of schooling. Too much time is wasted. Too many teachers are absent. Too few principals lead. Too few parents take an active interest in what happens to reading and calculating after school. Too many policies confuse educators. Too much disruption is caused by unions. Too little accountability is demanded by the government that teachers teach and that schools perform. Too many instructors lack the advanced skills for competent teaching in maths and in literature.
The tragedy of these results is not primarily a function of curriculum; we have fiddled and fumbled with the curriculum for 17 years, and the net result is the same - the children still cannot read and write.
The last thing we need is yet another curriculum "statement" that promises to be better than the previous one; the "new and improved" toothpaste adverts sound more convincing. Ministers have come and gone, each measuring our dilemmas and promising it will be better next time. We remain stuck in the same mess.
It is not only the fact that there is a spectacular lack of imagination in officialdom on how to resolve the problem of low learning achievements in the early years of schooling; it is also the fact that we have come to believe that government can save us. It is time for all of us to do something for the sake of our children.”
http://www.timeslive.co.za/opinion/columnists/2011/07/06/let-s-read-for-our-kids-sake
Goodness Gracious, Big Balls of Fire, as the great sage Jerry Lee Lewis once said
To add to my sense of disquiet I stumbled on an article by Max du Preez, “The Sickening Smell of Revolution” that in way compliments Prof Jansen’s column -
http://www.news24.com/Columnists/MaxduPreez/The-sickening-smell-revolution-20110706
During the days of Apartheid I used to read du Preez’s Vrye Weekblad. Max has always been an arch-radical being at odds with the then Nationalist Government and later with the SABC. Love him or hate him, he has a reputation for fearless reporting.
“I’m beginning to smell revolution too. Just a whiff, for now, but still” du Preez writes;
But it isn’t the exciting, promising smell of the 1980s. It’s the sickening smell of hatred, greed and revenge. The smell of rot.
Revolution fomented by greed
Look, I think there are ample reasons for a lot of people in this country to want to revolt. I would too if I lived in a shack and had no hope of finding a job and improving my miserable life and those of my children. But the revolution I fear is not one driven by a genuine desire for a decent life and dignity.
I fear the revolution fomented by greedy, fat cat demagogues lusting for more power, with insecure little men clinging to their coattails.
I don’t fear an uprising aimed at correcting imbalances and bringing justice. I fear an uprising that will dump our constitution in the rubbish bin, rob us of our freedom, destroy our economy and put a nasty, super-wealthy bunch of despots in power.”
The article continues to comment on Julius Malema’s, the leader of the ANCYL, stance on the nationalization of mines, banks and land grabs -
“There is nothing wrong with a campaign for “economic freedom in our lifetime”. In fact, I support it. But then fight for real solutions to poverty and unemployment, not for a system that can only lead to more misery, suffering and hunger.
There is no quick way to kill poverty and create millions of jobs, but there has to be a quicker way than the way we’re doing it right now. We have to find that way, “we” meaning government, the business sector, the labour movement and the citizenry.
In need of a wake-up call
I sometimes think white South Africans deserve a revolution. Too many of them live in complete denial, as if nothing had changed since the comfortable days when they were what Malema and Co now wants to become.
Too many whites fooled themselves into thinking putting black faces in government and parliament would be the extent of their “sacrifice” after apartheid.
Their racism, although mostly uttered privately or anonymously, matches that of the new breed of black racists.
They need a rude wake-up call, or there will be a revolution and they will be its first victims.”
Again, Goodness Gracious, Big Balls of Fire
The time to sit back as someone who was part of the problem prior to 1994, directly or indirectly, is past its sell-by date. To hide in the suburbs behind high walls living in some la-la-land moaning about the inefficiency of government won’t change a thing or save us from an uncertain future.
It needs action, it needs work, and it needs personal sacrifice and personal involvement in upliftment projects, job creation, and skills development to in some way bring human dignity and opportunities to the millions with no hope and no prospects.
I know I cannot change the world, but I do know that I can do my little bit to facilitate change. All these little bits can become a huge stone dumped into a stagnant pool of political infighting, inefficiency and lack of service delivery. Getting involved might just avert the specter of a Somali-scenario.
All it needs is A Few Good Men and Women
I suppose it’s time to get off my soap-box as I’ve never seen myself as a social activist or any such shit. All I know is that there’s work to do.