“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest” Benjamin Franklin
Education is a contentious issue in South Africa - from the quality and the efficacy of the system, right down to the attitude and performance of leaners and teachers.
The key question is: how do we improve the quality of South Africa’s education?
The first step would be to identify existing problems that are undermining the education system – a lack of infrastructure and insufficient material resources.
Frequent curriculum changes have contributed to a withdrawal in interest on the part of some of our educators. The State needs to ensure that all educators are well acquainted with the curriculum and that they are equipped with the necessary resources and tools.
The 2nd step would be to re-look at our education system to establish whether it is reflective of South Africa’s needs. We import our education systems from developed countries which have the necessary infrastructure and resources to make their systems work.
South Africa need’s to do a needs analysis in order to come up with a system of education that is relevant to its people while maintaining global competitiveness. This is one way in which we can become a nation of learned and well-rounded individuals.
As we close TBT’s education month (February), we would like to take this moment to also recognise and appreciate all the teachers who continue to make a difference in the lives of their learners.
We celebrate the men and women who in spite of South Africa’s history and condition of the Education system, still have the zeal to motivate and inspire their learners to achieve greatness. These are teachers who walk into classrooms and equip their students with self-belief, optimism and the promise of working together along the way to achieve success.
We appreciate your continuous dedication towards the future of our nation.
Where the problem
· Skills shortages
· Historical backlogs make the national budget insufficient
· National illiteracy levels are too high
· Education receives almost 40% of CSI spend and about 20% of government’s budget (which has
never been enough)
· Some CSI initiatives tend to have minimum impact
· Money goes to grades 9 - 12, when it should go into grades 2, 3 & 4 where early development
starts
· Graduation in higher grade maths continues to be meek
· CSI support in educational aid materials is low
· Priority is given to short-term project-based funding in order to gain returns on investment quickly.
· Corporates tend to look at CSI initiatives as marketing which is driven by PR stunts rather than
focusing on sustainable development and social upliftment
· Funding to Adult Basic Education and Training has declined
How CSI can contribute
· Corporate South Africa has made contributions to support curriculum innovation and other
educational programmes. But there is still more to be done in this regard to ensure sustainability.
· Mentoring, equipping and guiding school leaders in effectively running their schools
· Literacy programs
· Making long term investments in Education
· Geographic spread by going into rural areas where information is not easily accessible.
· Department of labour should get more involved in synergising CSI endeavours in education
· Increase expenditure on maths and science programmes.
· Creating sustainable initiatives by giving a hand-up instead of a hand-out (so to speak)
· Encouraging development in the areas of communication, collaboration, strategic alignment and
on-going learning.
Implementation Strategy
South Africa needs to adopt a multi-stakeholder approach towards education: where government, business, teachers and students become actively involved in the education system. What is important here is business involvement as it will ensure that our curriculum is relevant to the economy. Not only can businesses fund schools so they can expand their infrastructure and resources - but they can monitor what is being taught to ensure that what students are learning will make then employable in the future.
Written by: Ems Moipone Tsotetsi
TBT Creative Agency
Marketing Director
Guest contributor: Anele Nzimande
(responsible for the introduction)
2nd year LLB student, Member of Golden Key International Honour Society, Ambassador for PresidentGirl, member of Wits Debating Union and Performance Poet.
Visit: www.thatanelegirl.wordpress.com
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