Celebration and despair: a tale of two educational realities

Last week went up in an educational puff of smoke that left many in a state of celebratory euphoria and others in a dizzying tailspin of “Where to from here?”

Between the bundles of joy who were ushered into their first week of school and the matrics who were sent off in the results fanfare, there was little time for pause and reflection amid the parental and media pomp and ceremony.

Of course we wish the bundles of joy and matriculants well, but what of those who did not bask in the jubilation of success or a promising new school year?

Fortunately, this week commemorates International Day of Education, a day that allows more sober reflection on the intended value of education as well as the state of education, particularly in our country.

According to the United Nations, “the adoption of the resolution 73/25 International Day of Education, co-authored by Nigeria and 58 other Member States, demonstrated the unwavering political will to support transformative actions for inclusive, equitable and quality education for all. By doing so, the international community reiterated that education plays a key role in building sustainable and resilient societies”.

This year the theme is “learning for lasting peace”, with the UN declaring: “In the face of escalating climate change, democratic erosion, persistent inequalities, growing discrimination, hate speech, violence and conflict on a global scale, education emerges as a powerful tool to both address and prevent these challenges in the future.”

Yet, in South Africa, our census revealed last year that only 37.6% of South Africa’s population has completed matric and, from that 37.6%, only 7% have a tertiary education, painting a rather grim picture of our educational outcomes.

Having worked in the education sector, I have borne witness to the conditions that children who attend poorly resourced schools face. Most of them drop out or fail because the conditions under which they live and are taught are not conducive to learning, never mind learning with the intention of creating lasting peace and building a resilient society.

Most face the structural violence of living in an environment that dangles a carrot which says education is your only way out, yet they face immeasurable obstacles in its pursuit. For all intents and purposes, our poor public schools seem to function only as a tick-box exercise, as opposed to actually creating conditions for meaningful learning and for retaining learners.

The programme director of the Zero Dropout Campaign, Merle Mansfield, references the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (Pirls) report that came out last year, revealing that 81% of Grade 4 learners in South Africa cannot read for meaning.

Is it any wonder, then, that children drop out along the way if they are unable to comprehend their learning materials?

So a closer look at the children who do make it to the other end of the basic education system compels us to mutedly celebrate the few who do succeed and to loudly seek to plug the dropout and failure rate by ensuring intervention as early as the grade levels at which, according to the Pirls report, the notable problems start. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R29.