While there are many excellent and dedicated teachers in South Africa, there are currently over 8 million children attending dysfunctional schools where the quality of teaching, in general, is not up to standard.
- 490 699 learners drop out of school between grade 10 and 12;
- 167 506 of those who write the National Senior Certificate (Matric) fail; and
- 100 479 of those who write matric pass and leave secondary school without bachelor and diploma passes and therefore access to tertiary education.
The backlog of bringing school infrastructure up to minimum standards remains a severe burden for learners. The performance of the Accelerated School Infrastructure Delivery Initiative (ASIDI) – which was supposed to address the backlog – has been disastrous: in 2016/17, they failed to meet every target:
- Schools to be built: target 59, achieved 16;
- Schools provided with sanitation: target 265, achieved 9;
- Schools connected to water: target 280, achieved 10; and
- Schools connected to electricity: target 620, achieved zero.
In his inaugural State of the Nation Address, President Ramaphosa stated that all outstanding ASIDI projects would be completed by the end of the next financial year – end March 2019. While this is highly unlikely to be attainable, it is outrageous that he made no mention of other education priorities, such as school safety, teacher quality, and high dropout rates.
Notwithstanding that, within a month, the President’s SONA promise was broken. The DBE stated that outstanding ASIDI projects would only be completed by 2021.
The President did nonetheless direct the Minister of Basic Education to perform an audit of school sanitation and present a costed plan to eradicate pit toilets within three months. This will be difficult to achieve – the budget for school infrastructure has been cut by R7.2 billion over the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF).
These provincial budget cuts will also directly affect school safety, teacher training and availability, and other basic education needs.
How the President allowed education budgets to be cut is beyond comprehension.
Of all budgets, the school infrastructure budget was an unacceptable target for cuts – crumbling infrastructure endangers children’s lives in a most literal sense.
In order to save our crumbling education system, the President must ensure the following:
- SADTU’s stranglehold on education is broken;
- Reestablishment of teacher training colleagues;
- An independent inspectorate is established, mandated and empowered to inspect schools and evaluate the quality of teaching, leadership, management and governance; and
- Charter Schools are established, allowing a private-public sector partnership which will increase standards and accountability.
The above was presented by DA Leader Mmusi Maimane at a press conference to review President Cyril Ramaphosa’s first 100 days in office. Read the full report here