South African education crisis - Save the children's education

1. NAPTOSA
3rd
Biennial
Na1onal
Congress
“Education in Crisis – Save our Children’s
Education”
Tuesday,
23
October
2012
19h00
Kopanong
Conference
Centre,
Benoni,
South
Africa
Presenter:
Dr Muavia Gallie (PhD)
Education Moving Up Cc.
muavia@mweb.co.za
http://muavia-gallie.blogspot.com
http://supervisingwithadifference.blogspot.com
http://Iwanttoturnaroundmyschool.blogspot.com
www.slideshare.net

2. Content
1. My brief;
2. Do we have a crisis in education?;
3. Books and Article about it;
4. Voices from there articles and my
comments;
5. Recommendations.
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3. Introduction
• This presentation is not personal, but it is about
PEOPLE;
• Since what is going wrong in the education system, has
very little or nothing to do with money, but it is about
the PEOPLE;
• What I present is not based on opinion, but rather data
(information);
• This conversation is certainly not about ‘being politically
correct’, but rather the ‘uncomfortable conversations’
we tend to avoid! – Might be ‘hard hitting’!;
• Finally, I don’t defend constituencies (learners,
teachers, department, etc.), but rather Education and
the future of our country!

4. Awareness Test
Do we know what
we don’t know?

5. Is
there
a
Crisis?
• A
crisis
is
an
event
that
is,
or
expected
to
lead
to,
an
unstable
and
dangerous
situa1on
affec1ng
an
individual,
group,
community
or
whole
society.
• Four
Characteris1cs:
– Unexpected;
– Creates
uncertainty;
– Is
seen
as
a
threat
to
important
goals;
– The
need
for
change.

6. Crisis
Clusters
1. Vic&m
–
When
organisa1on
is
vic1m
of
the
crisis,
e.g.
unforeseen
disaster,
false
or
wrong
informa1on,
etc.
–
Weak
A'ribu,on;
2. Accidental
–
When
organisa1onal
ac1ons
leading
to
crisis
were
uninten1onal,
e.g.
technical
and
logis1cal
errors,
etc.
–
Minimal
A'ribu,on;
3. Preventable
–
When
organisa1on
knowingly
placed
people
at
risk,
took
inappropriate
ac1ons
or
violated
law,
e.g.
management
misconduct,
etc.
–
Strong
A'ribu,on
(Coombs,
2007,
p.168)

7. Lead
to
‘reputa1onal’
threats
1. Cogni&ve-­‐func&onal:
Evalua1on
of
competence,
achievements,
reaching
of
goals;
2. Cogni&ve-­‐social:
Sa1sfying
ethical
and
moral
norms,
developmental
and
social
responsibility;
3. Affec&ve-­‐emo&onal:
Sympathy
and
arac1veness,
emo1onal
evalua1on.

8. Interface
between
‘cluster’
and
‘threats’
Functional Political/ Emotional
crisis Social crisis
crisis
Mild
Vic1m
crisis
reputa,onal
threat
Moderate
Accidental
reputa,onal
crisis
threat
Severe
Preventable
reputa,onal
crisis
threat

9. ???

10. COSAS
Na1onal
Newsleer
Mar/Apr
1983
• What
is
wrong
with
our
educa,on?
Our
educa,on
is
unequal
because:
1. whereas
the
government
spends
R931,00
per
year
on
every
white
child,
2. it
spends
only
R253,00
and
R
139,00
per
year
on
Coloured
and
African
children;
3. whereas
one
teacher
in
a
white
school
caters
for
every
18
pupils,
in
black
schools
one
teacher
caters
for
39
pupils.
4. also
about
half
the
black
matriculants
who
wrote
their
exams
last
year
failed
because
of
the
inferior
educa,on
they
received.

11. Posters
-­‐
1986

12. Books/Ar1cles
Headlines
2008
-­‐
2012
1.
Book
-­‐
B.
Fleisch
(2008)
–
Primary
educa&on
in
crisis:
Why
South
African
school
children
underachieve
in
reading
and
mathema&cs
2.
Book
–
edited
by
Nonikiwe
(2011)
-­‐
3.
Africa
Ins1tute
of
South
Africa
–
Briefing
Fixing
the
South
African
educa&on
no.72,
(March
2012)
–
Heading:
The
failing
crisis
standard
of
basic
educa&on
in
South
Africa
(Madisaotsile
B.M.)
4.
Nick
Taylor
(JET
Educa1on)
10
June
2011
–
Title:
Priori&es
for
addressing
South
Africa’s
educa&on
and
training
5.
Book
released
13
July
2012,
by
the
crisis
–
A
review
commissioned
by
Ins1tute
for
the
Study
of
English
in
Africa
the
Na&onal
Planning
Commission
(ISEA)
–
South
Africa’s
educa&on
crisis:
Views
from
the
Eastern
Cape
(Rhodes
Educa1on
Faculty,
edited
by
Prof
L.
Wright)

13. Newspaper
Ar1cles
–
Mar
to
Oct
2012
1.
BBC
News
(12
March
2012)
Headlines:
South
9.
Times
Live
(2
October
2012)
by
Katharine
Child
Africa
educa&on
crisis
fuels
state
school
exodus
–
Headline:
A-­‐G
delivers
new
blow
to
Angie
2.
Mail
and
Guardian
(29
June
2012)
–
Andrew
10.
Moneyweb
(3
October
2012)
–
Felicity
Duncan
Verrijdt
–
Headline:
There
is
a
crisis,
Minister
–
Headline:
South
Africa’s
educa&on
crisis
3.
Daily
Maverick
(17
July
2012)
–
Greg
Nicolson
11.
News24
(3
October
2012)
–
Headline:
Jansen:
–
SA’s
educa&on
crisis:
Limpopo
s&ll
without
Government
can’t
deny
educa&on
crisis
books
12.
Methodist
Church
of
Southern
Africa
(4
4.
News24
(30
July
2012)
–
Headline:
Educa&on
October
2012)
Headline:
Methodist
response
to
crisis
not
Verwoerd’s
fault
the
educa&on
crisis
in
South
Africa
5.
City
Press
(24
August
2012)
Headline:
13.
Times
Live
(8
October
2012)
–
by
Thabile
Motshekga
is
wrong.
Educa&on
is
in
crisis.
Mange
–
Headline:
Solve
the
educa&on
crisis
6.
All
Africa
(5
September
2012)
by
Sue
14.
SABC
News
(10
October
2012)
Headline:
Valen1ne
–
Headlines:
South
Africa:
Educa&on
‘Sugges&ons
that
Basic
Educa&on
Department
is
faces
crisis
despite
big
budget
in
crisis
are
wrong’
7.
The
Ci1zen
(28
September
2012)
by
Musa
15.
Business
Day
(11
October
2012)
Headline:
Mohamed
–
Headline:
Jansen
lambastes
Sadtu
sets
sight
on
Soobrayan
in
textbooks
saga
authori&es
for
educa&on
crisis
16.
IOL
News
-­‐
FW
de
Klerk
Founda1on
(11
17.
8.
SABC
Educa1on
(2
October
2012)
by
Graca
October
2012)
Headline:
Our
educa&on
system
is
Machel
speaking
at
the
Archbishop
Desmond
in
crisis
Tutu
Peace
Lecture
at
UWC
–
Headline:
Machell
calls
on
SA
to
mend
‘social
crises’
17.
The
Times
(11
October
2012)
–
Headline:
Waking
up
to
South
Africa’s
educa&on
crisis

14. Issues
Raised
1
• Fleisch
–
real
dysfunc1onality
in
primary
schools;
• Taylor
–
need
for
transforma1onal
(radical)
change
in
teachers’
condi1ons
of
service
– competency
based
appointments;
– ban
union
deployment
ac1vi1es;
– proficiency
tests,
and
retrenchment
if
not
improving;
– newly
qualified
must
pass
relevant
subject
content
text,
as
well
as
HoDs,
Curriculum
officials
in
districts
and
provincial
offices;
– principals
must
be
trained
in
labour
law,
IR,
data
management,
etc.]

15. Average % scores after re-marking
45
Eastern Cape
40 Free State
Gauteng
35
KwaZulu Natal
Average Percentage
Limpopo
30
Mpumalanga
25 Norther Cape
North West
20
Western Cape
South Africa
15
Gr 3 Literacy Gr 3 Numeracy Gr 6 Languages Gr 6 Mathematics

17. Issues
Raised
2
• African
Ins1tute
of
South
Africa:
– SACMEQ
results
from
2003
–
2007;
– lack
founda1onal
skills
in
literacy
and
numeracy;
– Minister
Manual
–
quality
of
schooling
is
sub-­‐standard,
especially
in
the
township
schools
Policy
recommenda1ons
– pregnant
learners
policy;
– discipline
policy;
– teacher
recogni1on
and
reward
policy;
– beer
teachers,
open
colleges;
– train
SGBs;
– drug
awareness
campaigns
and
sex
educa1on;
– life
skills
programmes
to
improve
aotudes
of
young
persons

18. SACMEQ Countries
Botswana
Kenya
Lesotho
Malawi
Mauritius
Mozambique
Namibia
Seychelles
South Africa
Swaziland
Tanzania
Pupil
Uganda
reading
Zambia sco re s
Zanzibar
Zimbabwe
Source: SACMEQ Data, 2007

19. SACMEQ Results
6 6 7 6
2 5 2 2
12 13 11 12
15 15 13 14
4 3 1 1
7 12 4 11
13 9 14 13
1 2 3 4
9 10 9 8
5 4 6 5
3 1 5 3
10 11 8 9
14 14 12 15
11 7 10 10
8 8 15 7

20. Issues
Raised
3
• BBC
News:
– five
thousand
children
switch
to
independent
schools;
– 100
new
schools
applied
to
register;
– significant
parents
of
learners
are
teachers
in
public
schools;
• Mail
and
Guardian:
– A
principal
sta1ng
that
DBE
was
simply
not
up
to
the
task
to
fix
educa1on
and
therefore
schools
have
to
do
it
themselves;
– Reward
and
value
good
teachers,
training
bad
teachers
or
else;
– Need
good
teachers
to
shoulder
more
responsibility
–
we
have
no
other
choice.

21. Independent
Schools
Growth

22. Issues
Raised
4
• Prof
Wright:
– ‘behind
the
scenes
management
issues’
[problems
of
power
and
corrup1on];
– Teachers
as
Heroes
–
teachers
to
understand
their
full
value
“for
the
benefit
of
themselves,
their
learners
and
the
society
in
which
we
live.”
• Daily
Maverick
(Nicolson):
– Soobrayan:
“About
99%
of
textbooks
have
been
delivered
…
by
27
June”
– “Metcalfe’s
report
shows
that
by
June
27
only
15%
delivered;
July
3
increased
to
48%
…
by
July
11,
22%
s1ll
awai1ng
…”
– “Learners
are
not
failing
in
educa1on.
Educa1on
is
failing
them”
Heywood

23. Issues
Raised
5
• Ramphele:
– children
were
beer
taught
under
apartheid’s
guer
educa1on;
– There
is
no
excuse
…
why
no
one
had
been
fired?;
• City
Press
–
Minister
Motshekga:
– failure
to
deliver
textbooks
is
“a
problem,
not
a
crisis”;
What
would
cons1tute
a
crisis?;
– “spiong
in
the
faces
of
the
poor
who
see
educa1on
as
a
way
out
of
poverty”
• All
Africa
(Valen1ne)
–
Eugene
Daniels:
– Educa1on
system
was
distorted
and
needed
a
dras1c
overhaul;
– “We
have
designed
our
en1re
system
to
prepare
students
(5%)
for
university”
–
95%
leu
high
and
dry.

24. 1999-2010 + Ave
Comparing Grades 1-12 from 1999 to 2010
1,350,000
1,300,000
1,250,000
1,200,000 1999
1,150,000 2000
1,100,000 2001
1,050,000 2002
1,000,000 2003
950,000 2004
900,000 2005
850,000 2006
800,000 2007
750,000 2008
700,000 2009
650,000 2010
600,000 Ave.
550,000
500,000
450,000
Grade 1
Grade 2
Grade 3
Grade 4
Grade 5
Grade 6
Grade 7
Grade 8
Grade 9
Grade 10
Grade 12
Grade 11

25. Issues
Raised
6
• Jansen:
– educa1on
authori1es
are
responsible
for
the
increasing
“rejec1on
of
the
value
of
educa1on”
in
the
poorest
communi1es;
– government
officials
bully
ci1zens,
but
withdraw
when
facing
“defiant
teachers’
union”;
– said
government
had
“neither
the
insight
nor
the
capacity”
to
deal
with
textbooks
scandal;
– Lesufi
said
Jansen
“was
en1tled
to
his
opinion”;
• Graca
Machel:
– country
had
not
begun
to
understand
the
deep
“social
crises,
which
has
been
structured,
craued,
engineered
and
systema1cally
implemented”;
– accusing
and
blaming
one
another;
– “We
are
bleeding
and
we
are
harming
one
another
because
we
can’t
control
our
pain.”;
– “We
need
a
vision
of
how
to
build
a
healthy
society
…
move
away
from
anger,
fear,
and
accumulated
inhibi1ons.”;
– families
had
been
“torn
apart
for
at
least
three
decades”
and
that
today’s
parents,
who
grew
up
in
“torn
and
dysfunc1onal
families”,
were
trying
“to
mould
their
children
into
family
environments
they
didn’t
enjoy.”

26. Hope vs Reality
26

27. Issues
Raised
7
• A-­‐G:
– Failure
to
deliver
textbooks
in
Limpopo
is
only
a
small
part
of
the
massive
crisis;
– DBE
missed
53%
of
the
targets
it
had
set
itself.
• Jansen:
– Demand
that
government
declare
a
crisis
in
educa1on;
– “Why
should
be
tolerate
this?”-­‐
gap
between
privileged
and
poor;
– Privileged
schools
remain
stable,
with
no
interrup1on
to
teaching
and
learning
…
“schools
of
the
poor
are
rou1nely
disrupted
or
trashed
by
adults,
by
unions,
ac1vists,
gangsters
…”
– Those
send
their
children
to
best
private
and
public
schools
and
would
remain
detached
from
the
dysfunc1on
and
poverty
of
the
educa1on
system;
– There
was
nothing
wrong
with
the
country’s
children,
but
it
was
adults
who
were
“messing
them
up”;
– “We
allow
children
to
pass
with
ridiculous
results
and
lie
to
them
…”;
–
“Where
are
parents
when
schools
allow
learners
to
leave
early
or
when
teachers
do
not
teach,
…?”
– “I’ve
got
bad
news
for
you
that
for
the
next
10-­‐20
years
nothing
is
going
to
change
at
a
systemic
level.
We
are
going
to
need
what
a
wonderful
book
calls
a
moral
underground,
an
army
of
volunteers.”

28. Time-on-Task
Previous Year Current Academic Year
30% 20% 10% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
90%
HFS
Teaching Learning
40% 50%
4.5
days
p.w.
LFS
Teaching
30% 50% Learning
20%
2.5
days
p.w.
Learn-
NFS
20% 30%
Teaching
ing
10%
1.67
days
p.w.
28

29. Issues
Raised
8
• Malcolm
Rees:
– The
matric
pass
rate
is
rising,
many
of
these
“passes”
are
with
marks
lower
than
50%;
1
in
10
learners
who
enrol
in
SA’s
basic
educa1on
system
leave
with
the
qualifica1on
necessary
to
apply
for
entry
into
HE;
• Methodist
Church
of
Southern
Africa:
– Quick
wins
proposed:
Every
teacher
be
on
1me
every
day;
every
teacher
comes
prepared
to
teach
no
maer
how
experienced
they
may
be
…
• Thabile
Mange:
– Government
made
educa1on
part
of
five
priori1es
– But
is
it
really
serious
about
improving
the
educa1on
system?;
– Is
there
a
poli1cal
will
to
solve
the
crisis?
– There
is
no1ng
wrong
with
asking
for
help
from
experts;
– Something
dras1c
must
be
done;
• Soobrayan:
– Sugges1ons
that
Department
is
in
crisis
are
wrong
because
the
quality
of
educa1on
is
in
fact
improving;
– “I
want
to
submit
…
things
are
geong
beer.
– Data
suggests
it
has
improved.”

31. Corporal
punishment

32. Educators
by
REQV
2005-­‐2008
&
2011

33. Issues
Raised
9
• SADTU:
– Calling
for
full
inves1ga1on
into
the
Limpopo
textbook
saga,
par1cularly
the
conduct
of
Basic
Educa1on
DG;
• FW
de
Klerk
Founda1on:
– “Poor
educa1onlies
at
the
root
of
most
South
Africa’s
problems;
– “Educa1on
is
a
debt
that
the
present
genera1on
owes
to
the
future
genera1ons.”
– South
Africa
ranked
133rd
out
of
142
countries
in
World
Economic
Forum;
– “Perhaps
the
most
damning
sta1s1c
presented
by
the
Na1onal
Planning
Commission
is
that
teachers
in
black
schools
teach
an
average
of
only
3.5
hours
a
day,
compared
with
6.5
hours
a
day
in
former
with
schools.”
• The
Times:
– “The
ghost
of
bad
educa1on
con1nues
to
haunt
us,”
said
DBE
Minister
Motshekga.
*
up
to
11
Oct
2012

34. Recommenda1ons
1
• Learners:
1. Assist
them
with
crauing
a
“dream”
(learner
expecta1on
and
achievement
agreement);
2. “Free”
all
learners
from
the
challenges
“where
they
come
from”
–
they
are
not
their
parents,
economic
situa1on,
etc.
–
There
is
nothing
wrong
with
them;
3. Their
economic
situa1on
has
nothing
to
do
with
their
ability
to
be
academically
successful
at
school
–
being
poor/rural,
is
not
equal
to
failure;
4. No-­‐one
is
born
to
be
a
failure!
Success
comes
from
hard
work,
and
has
very
lile
to
do
with
‘intelligence,
being
clever,
etc.’
What
you
put
in,
is
what
you
will
get
out!;
5. No-­‐one
owes
you
more
than
what
you
owe
yourself,
and
others
who
are
making
and
has
made
sacrifices
for
you
to
succeed;

35. Recommenda1ons
2
• Teachers:
1. If
you
don’t
care
about
every
learner
in
your
classroom,
the
way
you
care
about
your
own
children,
then
you
are
in
the
wrong
job
–
You
have
to
reconnect,
engage,
etc.
–
The
focus
of
your
job
is
to
teach
the
learner,
rather
the
curriculum;
2. Teaching
is
more
about
Giving
and
less
about
Taking.
You
will
never
become
financially
rich
as
a
teacher,
but
you
will
get
your
reward
in
other
ways.
If
your
focus
is
financial
rewards,
then
you
will
have
to
change
your
career!;
3. We
have
an
80-­‐20
split
in
good
and
bad
schools/teachers;
You
need
to
make
a
choice,
since
being
‘safe,
hide,
average,
mediocre’
in
such
a
ra1o
is
a
choice
of
being
part
of
the
‘bad’;
4. You
might
be
the
only
group
that
can
‘save
our
educa1on
system,
and
save
our
children’!
5. This
is
an
opportunity,
which
might
not
come
around
soon,
where
we
can
claim
back
our
dignity
as
teachers.
We
need
you
to
put
in
the
‘hard
yards’,
just
to
do
what
is
expected.
[7
hours
per
day,
35
hours
per
week,
204
days
a
year,
feedback
auer
any
assessment
and
not
just
a
%,
let
your
children
how
much
you
care
about
them,
show
them
that
you
are
human!

36. Recommenda1ons
3
• Principals
and
SMTs:
1. If
you
don’t
care
about
every
learner
that
works
through
your
school
gate,
like
you
will
care
about
your
own
children
or
grandchildren,
then
you
should
get
our
of
the
job.
The
day
you
accepted
the
applica1on
form
of
the
learner,
that
day
you
accepted
the
responsibility
to
be
part
of
the
success
and
the
realisa1on
of
the
dream
of
every
learner;
2. If
you
don’t
plan
and
understand
the
interrela1ons
between
the
8
school
readiness
components
(aendance
of
teachers
and
learners;
teacher
informa1on;
learner
informa1on;
annual
planning;
1metabling;
teaching,
learning
and
assessment
schedules;
organogram
and
TLSM),
then
you
are
failing
our
learners;
3. Your
job
is
about
75%
instruc1onal
leadership
and
25%
others.
Don’t
be
caught
up
with
your
files,
telephone
calls,
etc.
Since
teaching
and
learning
is
a
‘people
rela1onship’
exercise,
focus
on
building
posi1ve,
respeczul,
trustworthy,
affirma1ve
rela1onships
between
learners,
teachers
and
parents;
4. You
have
to
be
proud
enough
of
your
schools,
so
that
you
will
have
no
hesita1on
to
enroll
your
own
child
(grandchildren)
at
your
school;
5. Focus
more
on
Leading
than
‘being
a
leader’
(the
posi1on).
Set
the
tone!
Be
the
example!
Strive
to
be
the
best
teacher,
both
academic
and
extra-­‐curricula,
in
the
school!
You
must
excite
and
enthuse
the
people
you
lead!

37. Recommenda1ons
4
• Teacher
Union
Leaders
and
Representa1ves:
1. To
be
able
to
represent
teachers,
you
have
to
be
among
the
best
of
teachers.
You
will
then
know
how
to
represent
them;
2. We
can’t
just
focus
(go
on
strikes
and
marches)
on
‘our
own
needs’
rather
than
the
needs
of
the
children
we
serve.
Lets
deliver
such
a
splendid
educa1on
to
our
children
that
our
communi1es
go
on
marches
for
the
improvement
of
our
condi1ons
of
service;
3. Let
us
stop
‘deploying’
people
into
posi1ons
which
they
are
not
fit,
or
capable
of
performing
the
du1es;
4. Let
us
take
the
lead
as
to
focusing
on
‘the
interest
of
educa1on’
rather
than
the
interest
of
our
cons1tuency
alone
–
let’s
be
‘educa1onally’
correct
rather
than
‘poli1cally’
correct!;
5. Let
us
not
protect,
support
or
allow
those
teachers
who
are
undermining
educa1on
to
be
‘part
of
us’
–
we
need
to
draw
a
line!

38. Recommenda1ons
5
• Departmental
officials:
1. We
can’t
employ
‘poli1cal
people’
in
‘technical
and
professional’
posi1ons.
If
we
con1nue
with
it,
we
tend
to
have
too
many
‘poli1cally
correct
educa1onal
conversa1ons’
rather
than
‘educa1onal
conversa1ons’
–
And
because
we
don’t
know
the
technical
details,
then
‘everyone’s
opinion
is
as
strong
as
everyone
else’s
opinion
–
opinion-­‐based
rather
than
expert-­‐
based
decision
making;
2. If
you
don’t
soon
indicate
the
value
that
you
add
to
the
educa1on
sector,
we
might
need
to
ask
why
we
s1ll
need
these
‘in-­‐between’
departmental
structures,
including
a
big
na1onal
department;
3. Educa1on
policy
is
worth
nothing
if
it
can’t
be
implemented
by
those
at
the
school
and
classroom
level.
Borrowing
and
‘googling’
policies
are
problema1c,
and
this
is
contribu1ng
to
the
challenges
in
educa1on.
A
quality
policy
is
a
policy
that
can
be
implemented,
or
at
least
seen
to
be
implemented.

39. Pass
it
on!

40. Thank
You!