Matric Results Are Out!

Today the matric results are released, and the agonizing wait is over for South African matric pupils.

 

According to the Education MEC, 78% passed, 22% failed. What that equates to in actual numbers, I can't tell.

 

Well Done! to all those that passed - but remember, the hard work only starts now! In my opinion, school only teaches you how to learn. It is supposed to arm you with the memory, reasoning, and researching skills you will need throughout your future academic and career life. For instance, in my chosen career, I have never had to use trigonometry, simultaneous equations, or chemistry. However, I have had to use the logic and reasoning skills that those subjects taught me. I wish you all good luck with the rest of your life. May you excel in it and enjoy it!

 

Special congratulations to Jacobus Jordaan from Hoërskool Roodepoort who achieved top spot in Gauteng with 10 distinctions. The secrets to his outstanding performance?

• Believe in your abilities.
• Aim high and work hard.
• Persevere.
• Don't rely on the teachers - use them for guidence. Rely on yourself.
• Don't get distracted.

Other special congratulations go to those that excelled in their exams dispite difficult and sometimes traumatic circumstances:

• Yusef Talia, who suffers from Duchene muscular dystrophy, obtained 4 distinctions.
• Kresha Prinsloo, who's mom died just before exams started, passed with exemption.
• Rethabile Latakgomo, who's father died as a victim of crime, passed with exemption and a distinction.

These are just some of the students that made headlines. There are probably hundereds, perhaps thousands, of other students who suffered equally trying circumstances, and who managed to rise above their circumstances and pass matric. To all of these pupils, we are proud of you!

 

Anyway, all these results, though good, are summed up by something that Prof. Mary Metcalfe (Wits Dean of Education) said: "... improvement in quality is built systematically over time and is rooted in quality primary and junior secondary education. We must concentrate our energies on building quality all the way through the system, rather than just focusing on matric." (italics ours).

 

One of the ways that we at School Report Services strive to do this, is to keep parents regularly informed of their children's academic progress by means of a simple cell phone sms. We do this for ALL school grades - not just matric. By doing this parents can identify weak and strong areas, and encourage their children more proactively. It is this encouragement that we feel keeps the child motivated throughout his or her school career. Why not check out www.SchoolReportServices.com to see what we offer in this space.

 

Maternity Leave for Schoolgirls

What next? Paternity leave for the father?

 

Maternity leave for schoolgirls was one of the proposals made at a Teenage Pregnancy Summit in KwaZulu-Natal last week. This is supposed to support the mother without hindering her education.

 

OK, this is all very noble and all, but I think it's time for South Africa to wake up, and start letting people experience the consequences of their actions. We have become way to soft and politically correct, and oh so afraid of offending someone, because maybe it's "unconstitutional". I searched Google on this subject, and it looks like South Africa is about the only place on the planet daft enough to entertain the idea of maternity leave for schoolgirls.

 

Back in the day, if a schoolgirl got pregnant, she had to leave school before she started showing, and could only come back after the baby was born, and had to repeat the same standard again. Harsh it was, but there were very few pregnancies - and the other kids learned from the lesson too.

 

As far as I'm concerned, if the child is old enough to do "adult things", then they should be prepared to accept "adult responsibilities" and "adult consequences".

 

While the girl is away from school there are other education alternatives - home schooling or correspondence study. If that doesn't pan out, there is always the alternative of postponing her education for a year or two.

 

Unfortunately, it's the mother that has to bear the brunt of the consequences - the boy who got her pregnant in the first place most likely gets away with very few consequences. It shouldn't be so, but such is life. Life is not fair - deal with it!

 

All this is though indicates a much deeper problem ... parents are not giving their kids moral guidance. Moral guidance has nothing to do with class, race, gender, or financial means - everyone can participate. It is NOT the school's job to provide moral guidance. That job was, is, and always will be the responsibility of the parents.

 

Many parents are unaware of their children's academic progress. For schools to help parents become a bit more aware of how their children are doing at school, why not check out the School Report Services web site at www.SchoolReportServices.com

 

HooHa over Teachers' Salaries

Some teachers' salaries are being augmented by funds obtained directly from the parents. This is causing a national stink! But I really don't know what all the fuss is about - maybe I'm missing the boat completely.

 

Here's the situation:

For government schools, the government pays our teachers' salaries. These are usually low, with few perks - even for senior teachers. Some teachers do an excellent job in spite of the difficulties surrounding their profession. For some of these excellent educators, who are already doing an excellent job, some school boards have decided to augment the government's pittence, and give these teachers certain perks, ranging from accomodation to cash.

 

I personally don't have a problem with this - as long as the teacher is excellent, I would want to keep him or her in the school so that my child could have a better than average education.

 

Some people call this "bribery and corruption". I think not. The difference is as follows:

Bribery is paying someone to do what they OUGHT to be doing in the first place.

Bonuses and perks on the other hand are rewards for jobs ALREADY well done, and can be used as incentives to keep up the behavior. This happens all the time in the corporate world - why should schools be any different?

 

Quite frankly, as long as the bonuses, perks, and other incentives are handled openly, honestly, and with the permission of the school governing body, I don't see a problem with this. In fact, our (good) teachers need all the help they can get.

 

On the other hand, obtaining funds using unethical methods totally disgusts me, and brings the teaching profession into disrepute. Such is the case it seems with the Ithuteng Trust, run by Jackey Maarohange. Last Sunday, Carte Blanche did an "expose" on the Ithuteng Trust. It seems as if "Mama Jackey" coached students in her school for disadvantaged kids, to lie, dramatically act, and incriminate themselves on public television - in order to obtain funding from high profile politicians, judges, actors, an celebrities like Oprah Winfrey. They even lied to the United Nations!

 

That's not the worst of it. It seems, from my casual observance, that what the accounting records say, and what the actual surveilance revealed, clashed. My question: Where did all the money go? Some of the students didn't complete their high schooling, very few graduated from university, the universities didn't receive enough registration and tuition fees, boarding houses were empty. Yet millons were spent on "consumables". "Mama Jackey" also has various legal action against her - some of it from her own former students.

 

Carte Blanche can't bring legal action against Jackey Maarohange, but the celebrities, polititians, and companies that "invested" in her trust can - and I certainly hope that they do.

 

Notwithstanding all the above, there are some who still want to invest in good governance for our schools. School Report Services is one of these, and they provide an excellent distribution mechanism for pupil's school report cards. Check them out by clicking on the hyperlink.

Traffic Calming Near Schools

Today, I'm writing about one of my pet peeves - TRAFFIC! I love traffic - as long as it's web traffic. I don't care too much for the other kind.

 

Anyway, I read an article last month that mentioned how many children were killed or injured crossing the road at their school. I was mortified! I speak for myself, but when I approach any school in my car, I take extra care. It seems there are some "moegoes" (stupid people) out there that just don't use common sense - or just don't care.

 

It seems that schools that have instituted scholar patrols at crossing points have a much lower incidence of tragedy than the schools that don't. It was pleasing to see that the police were prepared to come on board and teach the youngsters how to handle traffic. Good on you!

 

I pass two schools every day on my normal route. Both schools have physical traffic calming devices (i.e. speed humps). I would expect that the local municipalities would install these types of traffic calming measures at EVERY school. But no, sadly this is not the case. I don't know if this is just a South African phenomenon. The excuse is, it's too expensive. Figures like R50,000 per speed hump were mentioned. I'm not a road engineer, but this sounds totally ridiculous! What is a speed hump? Some tar or concrete set in a raised form across the road, and some paint to demarcate it properly, plus a sign or two. BAD MUNICIPALITY!! SHAME ON YOU! Perhaps it you implemented some work efficiencies, it wouldn't cost so much.

 

The good thing about good physical traffic calming measures, is that they are very effective. Hit the bump too fast, and you are in for some expensive repair bills for your vehicle.

 

I think that it should be law, that the roads around every school should have physical traffic calming measures installed - and that the government should foot the bill.

 

If your school wants traffic of the good kind, as mentioned at the top of this post, why not check out www.SchoolReportServices.com. School Report Services is the leading provider of SMS-based report card distribution mechanism.

Good Food is Good for School

It's great to be posting again. It's been a busy October/November. I haven't had time to post to this blog recently, but I have been collecting articles of interest during that time. I now have lots of articles to comment on.

 

The first article has to do with "junk food" and school tuck shops.

 

Ever since I can remember, the schools have had tuck shops. The staple fare being sweets and chocolates, fizzy cool drinks, toasted sandwiches, fried (slap) chips, vetkoek, donuts, and so on. Even now the fond memories are adding centimeters to my girth!

 

However, according to the Sunday Times (October 8 2006), Sunridge Primary in Port Elizabeth has turfed the junk food at their tuck shop and replaced it with nutritious alternatives like tuna rolls, still water and fruit juice, nuts and raisins, carrot muffins, and all the toasted sandwiches use low-fat ingredients on brown and whole wheat bread.

 

It seems this trend has been set by the schools in Finland, who consistently enjoy top-rate results.

 

If they had done this at my school years ago, there would probably have been a riot. But, according to the principal, the teachers are seeing improvements in behavior and concentration. They attribute this directly to the healthier food. The pupils with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder have shown particular improvement.

 

So perhaps, if I hadn't gorged myself on vetkoek, Coke, and chocolate when I was at school, I would have performed better academically - I might even have been a genius (yeah, right!!!).

 

 

A Tale of Two Schools

Both schools are in the Eastern Cape - South Africa. Both service underprivileged sections of the population.

 

One school is plagued by vandalism. The toilets don't work. The pupils urinate and defecate on the school grounds. There is no security. The furniture is broken. The ceiling is falling in. The roof tiles are falling off. The classes are unruly. There are almost no teaching aids or textbooks. The teachers are demotivated. The school has no funds. The state of the school is so bad I wouldn't want my dog to sleep there!

 

The other school is just as poor - but that's where the similarity ends. This school has a functioning infrastructure. There are no broken windows. The pupils have textbooks and functioning furniture. The classes are well behaved and orderly. The teachers are motivated. The grass is mowed. The students look neat, and have a 93% Matric pass rate.

 

What is the difference? From what I saw on Carte Blanche last night, the difference has a lot to do with attitude. The first school has just accepted it's fate, and puts the responsibility for fixing their problems squarely on the Department of Education. They don't seem to be prepared to do anything themselves, and rather choose to be victims of their circumstances and chose to blame the legacy of Apartheid (funny - Zimbabwe is doing a similar thing by blaming 'British colonialism' for their mess. Same thing, just on a different scale). The one or two teachers trying to do something are overwhelmed by the backlash of negativity from the pupils and community.

 

The second school on the other hand, has taken a pro-active approach - totally different from the first school. The community is involved in the maintenance of the school, and the teachers are encouraged to view the pupils as their own children. Motivated teachers, with community support, along with the backup of strong management seem to be the key to success in this instance.

 

Well, for schools that fall into the second category - those that want to mould their own destiny, instead of being victims to their circumstances, there is an excellent tool available to cheaply send out pupil's school report cards to their parents via cell phone SMS. The website is www.SchoolReportServices.com

 

Illiteracy Rife in South Africa

"A third of South African Adults have little or no schooling" according to the Sunday Times. This means that a third of South Africans haven't completed primary school.

 

There isn't a culture of reading. Only 27% of schools have libraries. Poverty is mentioned as another factor. What's more there hasn't been any improvement in the situation for over 5 years.

 

I have another view. I agree that poverty may be a hindering factor, but surely something can be done to supply reading material to poor schools for free. What about old magazines and newspapers? Many of the more "wealthy" families buy "kiddy books" for their youngsters - can these not be collected and distributed instead of just trashed when the child has outgrown them? I'm sure the READ organization has some kind of initiative in this regard.

 

I personally don't think poverty should be used as an excuse. Rather that same poverty should be used as a motivator to get out of the situation. I think that the real reason for poor performance of our children in school has more to do with the parent's "don't care" attitude, than the child's willingness to learn. Too many parent's place the responsibility of education with schools, instead of accepting that responsibility themselves. (In my opinion, there is a difference between Education and Teaching. It's the school's responsibility to teach, but the parent's responsibility to educate - but that's another discussion for another blog entry). Parents should rather be taking more of an active interest in their children's education. Yes, it takes time. Yes, it takes effort. Yes, a parent may have to "sacrifice" some booze or cigarettes in order to get their kids some reading material - but isn't that cost worth it? The only long term solution to the poverty situation is education. All it needs is for people to care.

 

Reading is hard work. It's not a quick-fix like television or PlayStation - but it informs, and it enriches! I care - do you?

 

We at School Report Services (www.SchoolReportServices.com), try to assist parents via the schools with a service that tracks their children's progress every school term. The service is affordable. Heck, it's even cheap enough for the Education Department to subsidise!

 

New Website Now Live!

I just have to brag!

 

At last the new School Report Services website is now up and running! Even though I had a few technical diffulties (akin to giving birth to a cow!), I believe the new website is a lot more functional and useful than the old one.

 

For instance:

• There is now a secure Registration and Login mechanism for users.
• Registered users can access a secure international payment mechanism and a secure file posting mechanism.
• All users will be able to subscribe to the School Report Services blog. (i.e. this one!)
• Registered users will also be able to automatically download the proposal in Adobe Acrobat format - instead of having to manually request it via email.
• The site looks way cooler than the original! (so i'm told ...)

 

All of the above is great, but means diddly-squat if it doesn't help the people it is supposed to help - the schools themselves, the students, and their parents.

 

Take a look and check it out at www.SchoolReportServices.com

 

What Cell phones are REALLY Used For At School

"Pupils at East London's Stirling High School have used cell phones to video vicious attacks and horrific fight scenes among uniformed Grade 8 children on school grounds."

"Three video clips ... show how pupils, among them two girls, viciously attack a fellow pupil in a free-for-all fight. In one scene, two girls lie on top of the third, delivering fist blows to her head." - The full report is here

The disturbing thing about this trend is that if anyone tries to break up the fight, they are discouraged. It seems that having such scenes on a cell phone increase the popularity of the phone's owner. Some pupils even seem to pick fights just so that they can be caught on camera.

I am really so sad! What kind of sick society are we living in that glorifies and even encourages such behavior? Most of the fights seem to be about stupid stuff like accusations of "boyfriend stealing", name calling, and just outright bullying.

It seems as if our kids are not being trained to control their emotions, combined with the belief that it's OK to sort problems out with the use of force or violence. This begs the question - What are they being taught at home? What are they watching on TV? They are certainly not being taught self-control, morals, or just plain socialization skills. This may be aggravated by both parents working, and the babysitter being Mr. Playstation. Is it that parents have abdicated their authority, and passed their responsibility over to the school system? I believe so - and it's this that makes me so sad ...

On a lighter note, why not use your cell phone for the purpose it was intended - to communicate useful information. Let your School Governing Body know about www.SchoolReportServices.com. This is a service that provides your child's school report card to you the parent, as an SMS text message on your mobile phone. Get your school to subscribe.

Philanthropic Oprah's School To Open in 2007

I personally am not a fan of Oprah Winfrey, although my mum-in-law and sister seem to be, judging by the way they follow her show. However, Oprah opening a private school for disadvantaged (soon to be advantaged) girls. WOW!

 

To be honest, I’ve heard about the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls for a while – but in my own cynical eye, just thought it to be another celebrity publicity stunt. Just goes to show how wrong one can be. Ok, I’ve had a change of mind – but I’m still not an Oprah fan – rather an Oprah “respectee”.

 

I haven’t seen the school or the building yet, but according to the newspaper report today, it’s sumptuous – and for just 150 very fortunate girls in grades seven and eight. It’s reported that the education value is about R105,000 per year. (as if you can put a value to something like that). There are facilities a-plenty including a wellness centre, doctor and dentist on site, high tech security, top-class teachers, heating and air-conditioning, library, labs, boarding facilities, great curriculum.

 

The only thing missing from the list is a state-of-the-art addition to their school reports system, so that the parent’s and guardians of these girls can be kept up to date with their progress via SMS on their cell phones. Oprah, if you read this, please give me a call – I’ll donate my service at cost. For more info check out www.schoolreportservices.com

 

I would have given my eye-teeth to have had it so good when I was at school. I really hope that the girls that graduate from this school help make a difference in the societies that they come from. More than that, I really would like other people and organizations to get behind improving our children’s education.

 

 

 

Inspiration and Consternation

Over the past two weeks, I've read a number of really inspirational, strange, and downright ugly articles to do with education in South Africa, and elsewhere.

 

The story that really inspired me was one about a 44-year-old "rapper" science teacher - Sibusiso Maseko, who according to the report totally enthralls his class. What is inspirational about this story is not just his unique teaching method, but that the class consists of 206 grade 12 pupils, and that the school doesn't have a science lab or any science equipment! This teacher started the science department at the Zwelibanzi Secondary School. Sibusiso certainly has the interests of his students at heart, because he holds extra classes from 6:30am to 8pm, and on Sundays too. This teacher was awarded the Stella Clark Teachers award last month. Good on ya' Sibusiso! I wish more educators had your devotion.

 

The other story that grabbed my attention was one where a family from Britain was fined by their local council for taking their kid out of school for an educational trip to our sunny South Africa, where they visited the Hout Bay township and Robben Island while in Cape Town. The fine was overturned in court, but this raises some interesting questions. How far should parents go to educate their kids? Is schooling always the best "education"? In my opinion, parents should take much more responsibility for the education of their children instead of just leaving it to the school system. Exposure to other cultures counts as education in my opinion, as long as the goal is to educate while having fun, as opposed to just "having fun". Would I do the same? After some thought I must admit that I would. It would be interesting to hear what would happen to parents who tried this in South Africa.

 

The story that brought consternation was the headline on the Sunday Times front page (4 June 2006): "Pupil violence makes war zones of schools". Who's running the show here? It's definitely not the Teachers and Parents! I mean, jeepers! Anything goes in some schools - vandalism, assults, sexual assault! In my opinion, the wishy-washy statements of our esteemed Education Minister, Naledi Pandor, show a wishy-washy attitude to solving the problem. Kids and teachers of that criminal ilke should be dealt with harshly. In the "good old days" those tendencies were thrashed out of us by a good caning. If that didn't work - expulsion was used. Don't get me wrong - I am not a proponent of abuse, but corporal punishment did most of us no harm. So, we can't use corporal punishment as it is "unconstitutional" - is expulsion also unconstitutional? If certain kids choose to turn our schools into war zones - and I believe those kids to be in the minority - should they not bear the consequenses of their actions? Where is the principle of "for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction"? Ms. Pandor - get rid of these bad apples in our school system. Stop mincing your words! Please take a more forceful stand of this criminal element. Give the majority of kids who want to learn, the chance to do so. In my humble opinion, it is the lack of strong discipline in schools, combined with the lack of moral guidence by parents that is giving rise to a generation of social misfits and delinquents.

 

By the way, if parents want to keep an accurate eye on their child's academic progress, why not check out the service I provide at www.SchoolReportServices.co.za or www.SchoolReportServices.com. If it grabs your attention, why not encourage your child's school to sign up for the service, and get your child's grades regularly SMS texted directly to your mobile phone for less than the cost of a hamburger.

 

R12.5bn boost for education: "R12.5bn boost for education
19/05/2006 11:54 - (SA)

Cape Town - Education Minister Naledi Pandor on Friday outlined a number of initiatives to deliver the final 'blow of death' to the legacies of apartheid education.

Speaking in the national assembly during debate on her budget vote, she said the problem of thousands of poorly performing schools had to be addressed decisively.

Over the next five years there would be a significant resource input to provinces to support a well-crafted, targeted, quality improvement and development strategy (QIDS), at an estimated cost of R12.5bn.

Initial funding was available in this year's budget.

Support
'It will be a focused response to the disadvantages caused by apartheid education,' Pandor said.
The strategy would begin with identifying 5000 low-performing schools in the least able districts, which would be provided with education support in the form of libraries, laboratories and teaching materials.

Teachers would be supported through high-quality, school-based education development programmes and strengthened district development teams. "

A Word of Welcome

Hello everyone

 

My name is Adam Phillips and I am the founder of School Report Services (www.SchoolReportServices.com). The official business site deals with using technology to speed up the delivery of pupil's school report cards, in a safe, secure, quick, and affordable way. The technology is quite cool. Take a look if you like - just click on the link in this blog post.

 

The current School Report Services web site is very simple. I make no appologies for this - it is suitable for the purpose for which I created it. Still, everything needs improvement, so I have redesigned the site. The old one is still the "official" site, but I am hoping that the new site will look better, and have a higher level of automation (all our processes are currently manually managed). It will also be possible to send us data files directly from the web interface, and there will be much more security surrounding the data submission process. We at School Report Services think it's quite cool, and definitely worth waiting for. We'll keep you posted.

 

I must confess - I'm new to this blogging thing, so I'm finding my way as I go along. So far, setting it up has been easy. Notwithstanding my inexperience with this type of forum, I think it would be good to set a few ground rules for posting comments on this blog site.

• This is a moderated site. So NO PROFANITY, NO HATE SPEECH, NO PORN. Any comments with those types of contents will not get posted.
• All other comments on any other subject that affects schooling or education will be welcome.
• I will try and post regularly on subjects that I feel are relevant. The opinions are my own, and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the School Report Services business, or the relevant education departments, or anyone else. Some of my posts may be controversial. This is to stimulate comment and debate. Obviously, I would like the "powers that be" to read and comment on these issues as well, as this is healthy for our young South African democracy.

 

I hope all visitors have a fine time, and use this forum constructively.