Letter: Education system failing children

WITH regard to the headline in The Herald of May 31 (“60% of SA kids in Grade 4 can’t read”), the blame seems to be shifted onto everyone and everything except our very own Eastern Cape Education Department! Why are some other provinces educationally effective? The answer is obvious if one looks at which provinces are suffering with major corruption, fraud and nepotism. The problem is also compounded by the fact that the syllabus has continually been changed in the last 20-plus years: OBE, RNCS then Caps. Our poor children have been guinea pigs and the passing criteria have been lowered to such a level that even our graduates cannot find work. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the syllabus years ago where the three Rs were drilled (reading, writing and arithmetic). Why this system couldn’t have been maintained is anyone’s guess! Does the Education Department actually consult experienced teachers when deciding on what system to follow? I think not and that’s why we sit with 60 % of our Grade 4s who cannot read. Fair and square blame can solely be placed on a shortage of teachers and a lack of resources funded by the Education Department. Most ex-Model C schools can afford to employ teachers and buy textbooks. However most township and our northern areas schools cannot. This is an absolute disgrace and has a direct effect on our pupils’ ability. How do you expect a Grade 1 teacher to teach reading to 102 pupils! As for teachers not being able to complete the Caps curriculum, I wish they’d look at Caps and realise it’s nothing but a sausage machine. Teachers are so concerned about churning out the work required of them as well as adhere to the time restraints placed on topics, that should any pupil not understand a concept, we’re told to move on! How on earth can we teachers build on knowledge when the basics might not have been grasped? A colleague of mine has more than 10 assessments in English for term one and very similar requirements for term two. This is besides actually trying to teach the work – English for Grade 5s. Try doing that with a class of 35 to 40 pupils. No wonder these poor children feel lost at times, no wonder our reading level is so low. Focus on educating the children seems to have been lost rather to saying that the children have done 10 assessments. Sadly this report in The Herald proves the fact that our education system is failing the children. A serious rethink has to be done before we end up with a generation or two of illiterate, unemployable people.