Falling levels of Education

I was not going to comment on it, as it has pretty much been knocked to death.....but, me, being me, has to...
The topic- Education......or in our case, lack of it.

South Africa released their matric or Grade Twelve or National Senior Certificate results- and 60.7 percent is the pass result. (62.5%-2008). Brilliant hey.
Strange as it was, the results were released on 7 January 2010 and not in December as is always done.

This means that roughly 40% of those who wrote matric, failed. That is a serious amount in my books. Especially when you look at the pecentage required to pass is 30% in some subjects and 40% in others. Surely the lowering of the education standards should amount to an increase in passes and not a decrease. Yet, there it is, for all to admire- a 2% drop in passes. For the last fifteen years, year on year, there has been a drop in passes for our matrics. Universities complain that many of their students do not know how to read and write properly - in terms of spelling and grammer. This is pretty worrying- well to us, but not too much for the government.

Now, these people are our future leaders, the people who will steer the ship into the future. Be afraid, very afraid.

The Department of Education is concerned of course , but are quick to blame everything from bad teachers to poor schools, from lack of understanding of English to the old fall back -'the dark past'. Minister Angie Motshekga says the results (wait for it ) 'Continue to suggest we have not turned the corner in education'. Wow, brilliant deduction. No wonder she is in charge.

They need to realise that education is rubbish here. They need to look honestly at where they are falling short and admit it instead of turning their fingers and blaming everbody else.

Instead of using funds for luxuries like cars and 98 year old birthday parties, funds should be placed in much needed departments- Education, Health, Policing.......where the whole country can benifit.

Here are some of my ideas and I do not pretend that they are correct or all inclusive.

Do a review of every school. (6 300 odd). This can be done at Provincial level. Fix schools that are falling apart, pay teachers (Educators in SA) better salaries and root out those who don't care about the pupils (Learners as they are called here). To teach you need to be dedicated and have a passion for educating the children. Ensure schools are equiped with decent learning and sports equipment.

Do not drop the quality of education to meet poor results. Find ways to improve the results to meet a high education level rather. (Who accepts South African degrees these days??). Even if this means wholesale changes. Looking at the results, this may be what is needed.

Granted in rural areas, language may be a problem. Address it and if it asks for them to be taught in their home language, do it. However, do not neglect the need for English.

In the towns and cities, many black children speak English at the expense of their home language. So, English is the medium that should be most used and cannot be used as an excuse for failure.

Then there is Discipline. There is none at schools. Children do as they please, how they please and there is no consequences. This has to be addressed sternly. Children bunk, don't do homework, don't bother about exams because there is nothing that can be done to touch them. This needs to be addressed urgently. Bring back harsh punishment, I am sure, like us, they will survive and it will make them better people.

I would like to hear what you guys think.......