Are school systems preparing our children for the real world

Are school leavers ready for life after school? Are they academically proficient and work skilled on the same level? Home life and high school provide both security and predictability, but in the time immediately after, our young people are left to their own devices. Unfortunately they don't always have the right information, especially when they make critical decisions, sometimes in the heat of the moment. I'm not convinced that our approach to the transition between school and life thereafter is working, or that it ever has. This then leads to the question of who should be taking responsibility, is it the parents? The learners themselves? Teachers? Or our educational system as a whole.

The world is constantly changing, and grows in complexity with each new day. So it is vitally important that our children understand how it works from a very early stage. They should have access to all the information we can give them. Even though the sheer volume of information has made it difficult for anyone to offer clear perspective on life choices and the right places to source information. Are educators also restricted by the demands and confines of the curriculum? Education has numerous academic checks and balances, yet there is no measurement of how well we've prepared our learners for the real world.

Do you think the local school systems are preparing our children for the future?

Education and teachers, what's your take?

We need a national debate on education. At the moment we are driving down a unknown road without a map, we don't know where we are going exactly, what point we're at, how far we have to go or where our destination is. What kind of education system do we want? What is the purpose of our education system?

We talk equality but we implement differentiation, so in reality we have a two-tiered school system. What do business and industry want out of education? What do parents want? We are also confusing schooling with education and that is having a negative impact on basic education. There should be rigorous systems of accountability. We need to determine clearly defined standards of behaviour and performance and then place measures of accountability, and make sure that teachers and principals live up to them. Such monitoring and evaluation cannot be conducted by the teachers themselves, but must be undertaken by external, independent bodies and the community that uses the school. If our education system is to be competitive and productive, then we have to have standards that must be maintained.

This means improving district structures as well. One of our problems is that policy is set at national level and supposedly implemented at provincial level, but with provinces excluded from policy making, there is little interest in delivery. This in turn defeats and degrades the concept of policy. A more genuinely de-centralised system would promote much greater community involvement and school level accountability.

A further problem lies not only in the massive backlog of teachers, but also the low erosion rate of teachers and principals. When these professionals stay in one place for long periods, it becomes extremely difficult to implement any kind of change. This also leads to the culture shock awaiting new teachers trained with modern methods who are confronted with stubborn resistance to change by established teachers who often use out-dated methods and poor work practices, they don't know how to overcome this so they frequently either resign or give up and adopt. A starting point would need to be a detailed and realistic national plan on education. This will allow us to start getting the basic blocks in place.

What the new year has in store

The holiday season has come and gone. The new year is here!

Teachers need to be prepared for the new term, the new year and the influx of eager learners excited to learn and start the year in a new grade. It is imperative that teachers adopt a pro-active, positive approach to managing the challenges of the new year in an effort to ensure that learners become the best that they can be.

Enthusiasm for your role as a teacher and preparation are the key to making 2012 a success. Learners are looking up to you for guidence and help to reach their academic goals. As an educator you need to realize how important your role is in creating the leaders of tomorrow.

Work together with learners, colleagues, parents and the broader community to make this another year of teaching excellence as every contribution counts.

Publishing Matric results....YAY or NAY

There has always been a mixed reaction to the tradition of publishing matric results. Those in favour of the tradition see it as a public pat on the back for work well done. Those against it see it as just more pressure on already over pressured youth that might have catastrophic consequences if your name does not appear in the paper.

The original aim of the publishing of matric results in the newspaper was to assist pupils who were on vacation and were unable to get to their respective schools to collect the results. This is no longer the case as matrics gather at their schools to open the newspaper to see the results.

In a time when we are so conscious of being politically correct, of respecting others' privacy and of erring on the safe side, should we not give some thought to the less than average student who might have tried very hard but just did not succees on the day? They have the right to keep their dignity and to try again without fear of being ridiculed.

On the other hand we should try to find a mechanism to praise those students who have worked hard and who have triumphed in the end. Perhaps a celebratory publication once all students have been notified of their results? Or is that just going back to the beginning again.....

In the end a compromise could be to use only ID or student numbers and keep it all as anonymous as possible. Numbers instead of names.

Award to recognise good governance

An annual national award that recognises schools that promote principles of good govrnance and discipline has been launched in Johannesburg and is believed to be a first in South africa.
Known as the CGF-Proudly South African School Governace Award, the initiative is the brainchild of CGF's chief executive officer, Terry Booysen, who has been a governance specialist for eight years and a prtner of Proudly South African.

Several of south Africa's municipalities as well as provincial education departments (notably the Eastern Cape) are facing serious financial and management problems, partly because of lack of management expertise and good governance.
The judges will focus on aspects such as:

• Individual accountability
• Collective responsibility
• Group Perfomance
• Principal's leadership capability
• The quality of school policy
• Supporting and promoting local products and services

 The call for entries sto the awards will be announce by the Proudly South African Campaign in due course. For morr information contact Dalene du Preez at: dalene@proudlysa.co.za.Tel 011 327 7778

Following a field of dreams...

Last year Derek Smith of Reading Matters took on a private project that is proving to bring out the best in everyone involved. Derek along with kind partners have offered to build a library for inner city Johannesburg school Albert Street School.

They not only pledged to build the library, they are making it happen. The principal at Albert Street School along with his staff members are not sitting back and watching their dreams of one day having a library come to life, they are getting their hands dirty and being a part of the change.

THE LITTLE SCHOOL THAT CAN - ALBERT STREET BEFORE CONSTRUCTION STARTED

Oh yes, at long last the show is on the road – After months of begging, using all my persuasive skills (like hitting people on the head with a plastic hammer), blackmail, extortion and guilt tripping the Field of Dreams Library at Albert Street School in downtown Jozi is becoming a reality.

Amecon, the construction company who is undertaking the majority of the refurbishment of the old minister’s manse started yesterday. On a Saturday.  André and his team who are so committed to make this happen that they have to work on weekends, free of charge, to fit it into their very busy programme. Amecon hopes to finish the build over four Saturdays.

Alpha Zhou, the school principal was waiting when we arrived. In an overall - to help with the hard craft. So were some of the older kids – carting away rubble, sprinkling water to keep down the dust. We do believe in child labour, not as exploitation but so that they can take ownership of Field of Dreams.

PRINCIPAL ALPHA ZHOU, WILLY OF AMECON AND JONATHAN
THE LIBRARIAN TAKING A BREATHER

“We want to do things ourselves;” Alpha said, “We cannot expect others to do things for us.” Alpha’s Can Do attitude is one of the reasons why I am involved in the establishment of this library. He’s not waiting for the miracle to come, but making it happen. What else can one expect from a Zimbabwean refugee who once slept on the church pews of Paul Verryn’s Methodist Church when he first came to South Africa?

He dared to dream to start a school for the refugee children two years ago in a disused church building. It grew from a handful of children to more than 450 of which more than a 100 are refugee orphans. They get by on a wing and a prayer, heaps of commitment and passion to ensure a world class education for their children, Albert Street School gets NO government funding, no learning resources, no textbooks  - nothing at all

Alpha and his teachers get a small stipend from the Methodist church to survive. At the end of the 2010 Albert Street had twenty children ready to enter for the Cambridge International Examinations, but there was no funding to enroll the kids. The teachers donated the little income they receive to register the children. Of the 30 kids that entered 21 passed, 10 at A level which gives them university exemption.

This type of commitment and results has to be measured against the South African educational scenario, where teachers strike and schooling is disrupted at the drop of a hat. About 20% of the class of 2010 in government schools qualified for university exemption compared to 70% of those in Albert Street.

I know it’s not a fair comparison because the number of learners does not equate. I also know that dedication and commitment pays huge dividends when one believes the impossible is possible.

Field of Dreams will be greatly assisting these kids to make their dreams a reality.

Thank you to everyone who contributed so far.  

Let’s Rock & Roll

-contribution by Derek Smith

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Plan, implement and conquer: Gauteng getting it right

According to Barbara Creecy, Gauteng MEC for education, their seven percent point  improvement to a 78.6% pass rate is the result of a well planned intervention programme, pupil commitment and a range of productive partnerships between the department, teachers, community and business.

Creecy spoke to the Times about how they managed to accomplish what many thought was impossible in such a short space of time. The department identified six subjects that produced the highest failure rates. These were maths, maths literacy, physical science and English first additional language.In their research process, it fast became clear that the majority of pupils who failed did not come from Gauteng's least functional schools but rather functional schools that could succeed if they were given additional support.

In April 2010 a three year programme dubbed the Secondary School Improvement Plan was launched. The programme gave an improvement target to every participating school and set high expectations that stretched pupil ambition. 1200 of the best teachers were recruited as tutors and about 48 000 grade 12s, almost half of those registered to write matric were invited to participate.

Key elements of the programme included supplementary lessons in the identified subjects, study materials for learners and lesson plans for tutors. At the height of the strike 80 of these groups were meeting daily, this teaching the most valuable lesson: the importance of giving learners and parents greater responsibility for learner achievement. Following the strike  different role players got together and ran the "Save our matrics" campaign in which learning camps were established, extra lessons were offered, Cinema screenings of video lessons were given.

Almost 80 percent of the schools involved showed a vast improvement in their results.

Creecy gives most credit to the learners who took responsibility for their own learning . Other role players include district officials, teachers, private sector and community structures.