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.
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