Elephants can be eaten*

I’m sure it wouldn’t surprise you to learn that “low quality of tuition offered in schools in poor communities can entrench exclusion and marginalization”, miring people in a “poverty trap” – which is what a local study on the matter concluded. But please don’t dismiss the problem as being insurmountable. There’s a way to eat this elephant…

The brokenness of the South African education system has received much attention from many angles. The unfortunate thing is that while this scrutiny continues, the learners continue to be subjected to what in some cases, can only be termed as sub-standard education, leaving them with the deceptive accomplishment of having received “an education”.

But how can “an education” truly be turned into a life-changing, must-have thing which will empower the learner to realise his or her full potential, and how can we bridge the gap between what is, and what should and can be? Although the provision of better schooling infrastructure is an oft-cited solution, it is unfortunately not that simple. A report on South Africa’s “Education Crisis” highlights four key factors preventing South Africa’s schooling system from being effective (as per my high level summary): (1) mismanagement of the education system; (2) incompetency and deficient capacity of school principals; (3) poor teacher accountability and performance; and (4) lack of mutual accountability regarding educational outcomes. These findings are echoed by former MEC of the Western Cape, Cameron Dugmore, who believes the lack of leadership and management skills in schools to be the most critical problem in the education system (read more here).

Visit PLEASED TO MEET YOU for the rest of this blog written by our passionate Project Manager, Simone.

*Disclaimer: the title does not suggest that I condone the eating of elephants. It is a borrowed phrase which I find helpful given the context at hand.