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Find out more about the GetAhead School Project – where everyone is a winner! (Cliche, we know, but very true!)

There is always much debate about the education system in South Africa. There are many positive and negative arguments, for and against our education policies, the Department of Education, schools, teachers, principals and learners in general.

There is certainly no doubt that there is a massive difference between the level of education at our former ‘model C’ schools and of our disadvantaged schools. I call them disadvantaged schools because that’s what they are – disadvantaged.

What really constitutes an advantaged and a disadvantaged school though? Is an advantaged school one where you walk into every classroom and see an interactive whiteboard and a laptop in front of every learner? Is an advantaged school one that is built out of bricks and has airconditioning, electricity and running water?

Personally I think that there is more to being an advantaged or disadvantaged school than just what the school ‘owns’ or ‘has’.

People were created with a natural instinct to do great things even without great resources at their disposal. There are countless success stories of disadvantaged schools making education happen without having all the fancy gadgets (or even the basic necessities!) that their counterparts have in the leafy suburbs.

But why then is there still such a high percentage of learner failures, particularly from the disadvantaged schools?

I was watching an episode of Special Assignment a while back, and something that a black teacher said really struck a cord with me. I don’t remember her name or what school she was from, but the gist of her argument is that the poor quality of education happening at disadvantaged schools is a legacy of the old and racist ‘Bantu’ education system in which for every R10 spent on a white learner, only R1 would be spent on a black learner.

Quite shocking, but if you think about it, it makes sense. People are quick to blame teachers for incompetence and laziness, but many of the teachers at disadvantaged schools are themselves a product of Bantu education. Of course, this doesn’t make teachers from advantaged schools any better, but the past is the past, and there is nothing we can do to change it. However, there is a lot we can do to fix it.

In a September 2010 article on Teacher’s Monthly, Dr Malcolm Venter writes:

The recent public servants’ strike was perceived to have been mainly about money – about increased salaries and better conditions of service. However, that is not the real issue. Underlying it all there was a deeper, more sinister, issue.

The State’s argument that it could not afford more was ludicrous and insensitive in the light of its wasteful spending on fancy cars, homes and hotel stays, its corruption, the unaccounted-for millions, etc. So much so that it became evident that the strike was about the perceptions of the populace that the high-ups in government were only concerned with feeding at the through, of the tendency towards ‘a predatory elite’ (as Vavi of COSATU put it so accurately).

Lester Venter, in his book When Mandela Goes (1977), writes:

South Africa has now experienced a political revolution, and is confronting the early stages of a social revolution. The first prepared the way for the second.

He points to the ’development gap’ between the two worlds that make up South Africa—the first world and the second. He then goes on to say:

The change has still to come. And come it will. Moreover, change will not come primarily through the actions and policies of government. It will come from underlying forces to which governmental action will usually be a confused response.

Expectations have been aroused. Those in whom they have been aroused will not tolerate the frustration of unfulfilment for ever. Even if a present, older, generation is—to some degree—resigned to the immutability of life and acceptant of a pitiable fate, the sons and daughters of the next generation are not. Expectations are self-fulfilling, at least partially. A process of change is already in motion. Change in South Africa didn’t end when the results of the 1995 election were announced, as many people seem to think. In truth, that’s when change began.

I don’t think that giving a disadvantaged school an airconditioner, a computer, a brick hall, or a jungle gym suddenly makes that school any more advantaged. I think that the Department of Education needs to focus on strong training and retraining of existing teachers, and make the teaching profession something that people really admire and look up to. I believe that is crucial for the improvement of education.

Watching Top Billing’s recent episode on Mandela Day, it is obvious that Nelson Mandela considered education to be one of the strongest weapons in fighting for freedom. Not just politcal freedom, but also the greater freedoms that education gives. The ability to be successful, to help others, to understand the world and make a real difference. These things come from learning.

Lets face it, one can say that talking like this amounts to racism or whatever, but the point is that nothing will change until South Africans face facts and start talking. For all his obvious rudeness, media blunders and now possible corruption charges, at least Julius Malema has made people start seriously thinking about the differences between the rich elite and the derelict poor.

Over the past few months there has been a fair amount of media coverage on Finland’s education success. Bert Maes wrote an article regarding this:

Explaining the excellence of the schools in Finland is extremely complex. They have beautiful school buildings, well-trained teachers, state-of-the-art technology any fancy textbooks, but that doesn’t explain everything. I will not present an exhaustive or exclusive explanation for Finland’s success, but 10 CHARACTERISTICS MAY BE HELPFUL TO UNDERSTAND:

1. When Finnish kids turn 7 years old they go into compulsory primary school during nine years. All kids start at the same level, no matter what socio-economic background they have. They learn the basic knowledge, skills and attitudes of lifelong learning, which is consistently paying off with better academic achievement in later grades. These primary schools are places where playing and learning are combined with alternative pedagogic approaches, rather than mere instructional institutions.
2. All teachers are prepared in academic universities. Teachers are highly respected and appreciated in Finland, partly because all teachers need a master’s degree to qualify for a permanent job. And the selection is tough: only 10% of the 5000 applicants each year are accepted to the faculties of education in Finnish universities. Finland improved its public education system not by privatizing its schools or constantly testing its students, but by strengthening the education profession and investing in teacher preparation and support. Their high level knowledge and skills makes that Finnish teachers:
   - can have considerable independence in the classroom to choose their preferred appropriate pedagogical methods;
   - are very willing to continuously update their professional skills via post-graduate studies;
   - are more willing to work on themselves, are open to new ideas and developed broader perspectives;
   - are eager to be involved into the school development processes in their own schools as well as in national and international projects.
3. Since the 1960s political authorities always have seen education as the key to survive and thrive in an increasingly competitive world. All governments, from left to right have respected over the past 4 decades, that economic growth is the primary goal, with education as the critical driver (according to some researchers, education explains 25% of Finland’s growth): “Investment in people is the best investment”. To be competitive, the governments concluded, Finland has to substantially boost investments in education and research to foster innovation and cutting-edge development.
4. Because the central government ensured sustainable funding to ensure FREE education for all, i.e. took care of ALL costs of tuition, warm school meals, learning materials, text books, transportation, new equipment, new facilities, student counseling, etc, the teachers are able to focus on teaching and learning, and bringing new ideas and practices in schools.
5. There are no mandatory tests or exams; except for the nationwide National Matriculation Examination, in mother tongue, foreign language, mathematics and social/natural sciences, at the end of the upper-secondary school (from 17-19-year-old). Teachers make their own assessment tests, not quoting numeric grades, but using descriptive feedback, no longer comparing students with one another. This helped teachers and students focusing on learning in a fear-free environment, in which creativity and risk-taking are encouraged. Teachers have more real freedom in time planning when they do not need have to focus on annual tests or exams.
6. Trusting the schools and teachers is a common feature in Finnish schools. Schools receive full autonomy in developing the daily delivery of education services. The ministry of education always believed that teachers, together with principals, parents and their communities know how to provide the best possible education for their children and youth. Except for guidelines for learning goals and assessment criteria, The National Board of Education (taking care of curriculum development, evaluation of education and professional support for teachers) doesn’t dictate lesson plans or standardized tests. School can plan their own curricula to reflect local concerns.
7. For Manufacturing Education: In higher education, Finland offers university level studies or the polytechnics insitutions. The polytechnic system was the focal point of education policies in Finland during the 1990s and the top priority for regional development. There is a wide consensus on increasing technology, environmental sciences and entrepreneurship education – all of which seem to contribute positively to economic development and growth. As a result regional support networks are developed to help schools and teachers to adopt new technology in education and incorporate technology into classrooms.
8. Building upon the expertise of local players, whose experience, opinions and abilities allowed them to indicate the best ways forward. The teacher unions and the educators themselves have always had the opportunity to be heard, to help crafting a blueprint of the reforms.
   - The key to get their commitment and support was tapping into and welcoming their expertise as professionals in laying the groundwork of reform. Expert committees of teachers, union representatives, university researchers, textbook authors and government officials designed the new frameworks, hashing out their differences and using each other’s valuable and varied expertise.
   - Another key was reassuring teachers would not lose employment security and salaries. Before the reforms even commenced the teacher trade organization achieved this in negotiating higher teacher compensation for the extra more demanding work.
   - Also experiments and pilot programs in developing curriculum reforms have helped ease concerns and win the teachers’ professional commitment. All experimental projects, coming from bottom-up as well, were monitored by university researchers, bringing a consistent culture of innovation in the Finnish education system.
   - Education reform could only have proceeded if it gave the teachers a way to maintain their pedagogical freedom, creativity and sense of professional responsibility, by allowing them to choose textbooks and learning materials, and to determine the best way to cover the curriculum.
   - he execution of new curricula, learning materials and new instructional methods was always carefully planned, province by province. Provincial Offices approved the plans from every municipality. The switch to a new reform was also guided by in-service training by a network of national level instructors.
9. Political consensus and the capacity of policy makers to pursue reform: governments, trade unions and employers’ organizations form a tripartite in Finland, closely coordinating, communicating and heading to a common goal. In many countries the opposing-parties usually polarize debates and public opinion. Since the beginning of the 1970s until 1987 the ministry of education had two ministers from the main parties, requiring close political cooperation, resulting in workable solutions as both parties could endorse them. This proved to be the key factor behind the continuity of Finnish education policy. The parties detached from their populist political objectives and strategic maneuvers and began focusing on the subject-matter, on cooperating and acting together. Via the close partnership between the labor organizations and the governments, between the employees and the employers, in both planning and implementation stages, the teacher union changed from external political pressure group into a stakeholder in government decision-making, i.e. into one encompassing labor organization, that looks at the interest of the COMPLETE SOCIETY, just like the government. This key element in good quality of governance and public institutions turned out to be the driving force of education performance and economic competitiveness in Finland.
10. Regional development and networking: Today the most important component of providing good education is the management and leadership skills of local political authorities, experts and school principals (carefully selected for their understanding of education development, their experience in teacher-education and their solid proven management skills). The key in the educational reforms was ‘how to find ways to help schools and teachers come together and share what they have learned about productive teaching techniques and effective schools’. The result was the creation of multi-level, professional learning communities of schools sharing locally tested practices and enriching ideas, and matching the needs for local economic development.

I do not necessarily agree to all of the above, but it makes an interesting comparison on the freedom the Finnish education departments give to teachers coupled with the importance they place on very high standards of initial teacher training as well as ONGOING teacher training.

So to answer the initial question, “Are South African teachers lazy?”: No. But many are poorly trained and poorly supported by the Department of Education. The Department of Education should be there to support teachers. Teachers should be there to educate and support learners. Right now I get the feeling that the Department of Education places more value on the learner than the educator. Without the educator, there is no learner.

When will the South African Department of Education realise that good education starts with the teacher?

Click here to watch a video on Finnish education by the BBC.

In a nutshell, this top Maths course is geared at preparing learners for the final exams and will help improve results. The course is presented online over a 12-week period and is available to any Grade 12 learner in South Africa.

You can nominate ANY Grade 12 learner who you think deserves to go on this course for FREE. Bear in mind that the learner will need internet access and must be motivated about doing their best in the final maths examinations.

The learner will receive continuous proactive and personal support, and parents will receive weekly progress reports.

Course modules include:

Module 1 Logarithms
Module 2 Sequences and series
Module 3 Financial mathematics
Module 4 Relations, functions and inverses
Module 5 Calculus
Module 6 Linear programming
Module 7 Euclidean geometry
Module 8 Coordinate geometry
Module 9 Trigonometry
Module 10 Transformations
Module 11 Data handling
Module 12 Probability

Nominate someone now (if you are in Grade 12, you can nominate yourself!).

This competition closes 29 July 2011 and is only available for bonafide Grade 12 learners who are taking Mathematics.

Find out more about the course or watch the video below …

Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mineworker can become the head of a mine, that the child of a farmworker can become the president of a great nation. It is what we make of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another. ~ Nelson Mandela

These are the words of the creators of MathPRO, a unique, South African-based educational software program that focuses on mathematics from grades 8 – 12.

MathPRO is the latest program to hit the shelves from educational software developer EvaluNet. Two license options are available for two different target markets. “We created MathPRO to be used by an individual learner in a home setting. For example, a learner who is wanting to improve his or her maths results can purchase a single-user licence, install it on their computer at home, and away they go. For schools, we have a networkable version that can be used in the school computer centre or on interactive whiteboards in classrooms,” says Melanie Gow, lead content developer at EvaluNet. “The primary goal of MathPRO is to improve mathematics results, and we designed it in such a way that caters for struggling learners, as well as learners that are already achieving good marks.”

The content in MathPRO was authored by seven highly-qualified maths teachers from private and state schools, and MathPRO complies fully with the current South African National Curriculum Statement. The program focuses on learning, revision, consolidation and self-assessment of the maths curriculum and learners are able to work comfortably at their own pace.

Rob Goslett, an ex-matric learner from Edgemead High School who used the beta version of MathPRO in 2009 said: “I hate maths, but MathPRO got me through it. Enough said”. Comments from learners currently using MathPRO include: “It is really cool! I never understood maths like I do now” and “I like MathPRO and it is helping me to understand my work”.

Currently MathPRO is being used by The Settlers’ High School in Cape Town and Ladysmith High School in Ladysmith, KZN.

The home version was released in February and retails for R385 per grade. The school version was released in April this year and retails at R4,500 for a 12-month subscription for grades 8 – 12.

You can find out more by visiting www.mathpro.co.za.

XT, our unique, South African assessment and testing software product is certainly not new to the arena of dynamic and interactive assessment. However, today I’m proud to announce the launch of the new XT web site which has a little something for everyone – potential customers and current users alike.

From a detailed product tour with videos and customer testimonials to an interactive user forum and downloads for customers, it’s all on the new XT site.

We’ve been working hard to revamp XT, our assessment and testing tool, to bring it more in line with the needs of our users. We’ve also developed MathPRO to be a content-rich, all-inclusive Mathematics revision and learning tool – which is really what parents and teachers are looking for.

How can we serve your needs better?