THERE are over 12 million learners in South Africa with close to 400 000 educators in close to 30 000 schools. We know that fewer and fewer learners are able to consider university as an option when they get their matric results.

As for those who do enter university, many leave without a degree, especially in areas such as engineering, science and accounting – areas of knowledge and skill – that are very important for the growth of the South African economy. For those who do get a degree, there’s no guarantee that they will work in the particular field in which they studied.

At school level, good teachers are leaving South Africa by the dozen, looking for greener pastures where the teaching profession is better respected. Rural schools battle to attract good teachers who come to school on time and teach children to read, write and count. As a result of the lack of quality education, development happens at a snail’s pace in areas that are the most needy. Many children in this setting have to walk long distances to school, often on empty stomachs, and arrive at schools that may not have windows or toilets.

The curriculum is under criticism and constantly in flux, causing instability in schools where resources and human resources are scarce. The majority of the learners in South Africa are taught in their second language, often by teachers who are second language speakers of that language themselves. Mother tongue education is slowly being forgotten, easily so because teachers who are expert in African languages are a rare commodity in South Africa.

Where does this leave us if we want to have a successful multi-cultural nation? The Department of Education is allocated the largest portion of the national budget – 21 percent in 2008 – but the returns are difficult to see.

One must ask what has happened to all the learners who have failed over the years and disappeared from the system? What does their future hold if they do not have the necessary skills to contribute to a changing and “globalised” country?

I have purposely not given many figures, not because I am lazy but because numbers are not crucial to what I’m trying to say. The irony about education in South Africa is that it has the ability to change society and open doors for some people. But for others it’s the factor that contributes to the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer – and it is the latter for many South Africans.

A basic quality education in South Africa has become a privilege for many people despite the fact that it is a constitutional right. Where children should be drawn out and supported to reach their highest potential, the current system is failing them. Those who do succeed, despite the system, are forced to reach into the depths of their souls to find abilities as the system demands resilience simply to achieve the basic minimum.

Those who are the minority and who are privileged enough to have the kind of education that everyone should have in the new South Africa should remember that from whom much has been given, much is required.

An important decision one has to make is whether or not to work for one’s own selfish needs, which can be justified in a society that seems to encourage individualism and pays mere lip-service to ubuntu. Or one can choose to work towards changing the status quo in South Africa.

The reality is that the whole world needs people who are aware of others’ needs, people who question themselves about what they do and why they do it.

What does this mean for learners who have been disappointed by the education system in South Africa? In Xhosa we say, ithemba alibulali (hope cannot kill you). Recent matriculants can take the opportunity to reflect on the past year or even the past five years of high school and ask questions about their involvement in the outcomes of their education. There is a personal responsibility involved in making sure that education adds value to our lives. Honest answers will force the individual to move forward with a realistic understanding of their capabilities. There are also options to improve results, but this requires hard decisions and bold action. But the most important choice to make is choosing not to be a victim of circumstance, even when the doors seem closed and can only be accessible through a matric certificate.

The state of education in South Africa should make us realise that the world isn’t as it should be, yet many people seem to be okay with that and we need to ask ourselves why? We cannot be okay with many things in South Africa, as one of my favourite poets, Nontsizi Mgqwetho, writing in the 1920s put it, “asinak’thula umhlaba ubolile” (“we cannot keep quiet when the world is [in a shambles]”), because we will inherit these problems when it is our turn to be leaders.

When Dr Frene Ginwala (former Speaker of Parliament) visited Rhodes University last year she shared that she was astonished at what South Africans tolerate in light of having such a progressive Constitution – one that does not allow much of the reality we live with. I’m sharing this with you in the hope that you will not tolerate anything less than a bad smell.

Athambile Masola is currently doing her Masters in Education at Rhodes University and is a recipient of the Mandela Rhodes Scholarship for 2010. This is an abridged version of a speech she gave in East London at the awards ceremony of the Student Sponsorship Programme, a scholarship for high school pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, of which she is an alumnus