Education

Invest in the education of the future generation

As we all believe that education is the most important factor in a person’s success in the society. Committing to education is the smartest thing you can ever do for yourself but what happens when you cannot access it, even though you strive to study in order to become successful to better your life but your situation just doesn’t allow you to. You find yourself thinking maybe you were born in the wrong home, community, town or province even.

I’m sure that many people have stories about how they struggled in order to be educated and the many different challenges they had to face or are even still facing, just to get basic education. The Eastern Cape faces many problems when it comes to the education department. In high school pupils find themselves being taught by people who are not even qualified teachers which are alone a huge problem that can cause students to fail. There are many reason as to why a person needs training in order to be named a qualified teacher, you need patience amongst other things. 

The unequal distribution of funding in public schools also affects the performance of learners; a good infrastructure and sanitation are some of the things that get ignored when it comes to implementing change in public schools. You find students outside school facilities during school hours, could this be a sign of disrespect to the teachers or could it be because they have nothing to do at school. The problem of the shortage of textbooks is just the most frustrating thing for pupils. The fact that 4 to 5 grade12 students share one textbook says it all, then we act surprised by matriculants’ results come January.

I believe that the best thing that the government can ever do for the children of this country is to invest in education, education is that one thing that can never be taken away from a person, the future of the Eastern Cape lies in the hands of the future generation, the same generation that is being refused the privilege of becoming educated, what does that say about our future?

Photo by Madelene Cronje, M&G

 

" In 2011, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said: "By 2014, we will have eradicated all mud schools in the province", and in 2013 she said: "By 2015, in terms of mud schools, we should be done." — Compiled by Equal Education" http://mg.co.za/article/2013-03-08-00-forgotten-schools-of-the-eastern-cape-left-to-rot"