FLAMES OF DISCONTENT: The main entrance to the University of Fort Hare in Alice was blockaded by students on Monday with tyres set alight to prevent senior management from entering the institution. Picture: MICHAEL PINYANA
TO DESCRIBE education in this country as going through troubled times would be an understatement of almost monumental proportions. From the day a child enters school in Grade R to when he or she exits Grade 12 involves almost as much fortune as the national lottery.
For many, there’s the chance the school won’t even be open. If it is open, there’s the risk there won’t be a teacher or any books or learning material. And that’s just on the first day.
From then on, our young pupils have to struggle to overcome a multitude of both structural and systemic obstacles. We have exposed that standards in some boarding schools are worse than in our prisons.
The impact of this morass on our young developing intellectual capital is glaringly evident in the outcomes.
We pat ourselves on our collective backs at sneaking past a 70% pass rate when the pass mark is only 30%.
That means that the two out of three pupils who, after more than a decade in our education system, actually manage to get a National Senior Certificate are for the most part still woefully unprepared for their futures. Of course, one out of three come away with nothing to show for their years of schooling.
For the elite few who shine and emerge with university grade marks, the trials are far from over.
They’ve then got to compete against each other for a place in a tertiary institution to have a chance at a qualification that will give them a lead in the job market or empower them to open a new business or practice.
Even then, the battle is not over.
As we have been reporting, many young students who at long last can walk through the gates of an institution of higher learning have one more giant hurdle to clear – money.
The feelings of frustration and anger when having come so far to be confronted with such a seemingly insurmountable obstacle can be intense.
For those with privileged backgrounds who attended top-class schools where learning opportunities and advantages abounded and then cruised into superb universities without having to worry about a cent, it may seem incomprehensible for students to trash a university. Yet we have seen both Walter Sisulu University and the University of Fort Hare get off to extremely shaky starts this year as angry students protest over the costs they must pay.
We should be careful of blaming the students only. We should also be holding to account those elected, and being paid high salaries, to run education. They are the ones who need to overcome the obstacles.
To mangle a metaphor, those who throw the learning ball must make sure it is not curved.
