Simthembile Xeketwana
‘Cabinet has decided today that all public schools should take a break for the next four weeks’ (Ramaphosa, 2020). Listening to the president last night and learning that only public school will be closed, I cringed. I wondered if the president felt the way I did or was it just a decision like many of the decisions he has made before.
Basically, the President told us that his grandchildren and those of his colleagues who access private education will continue accessing education while the destitute and the children of those who voted for his political party will close schools.
This is where I was reminded that surely Verwoerd is over the moon that what he and his colleagues orchestrated is indeed being realised in 2020, where the minority keep benefiting and the rest is left to be sorted out later.
The argument I am presenting here is not whether closing schools because of the pandemic is right or wrong.
I wish to yet again highlight the sad state of the unequal education which we keep feeding our children.
If I can remind you, when the public schools were in lockdown, private schools continued teaching online and the rural and township learners were left outside in the cold with no education.
The decision made by the Cabinet does not mean that private school learners’ immune system is stronger than those in the public schools. It only means that the rich will continue to benefit, the majority and poor will continue to suffer.
Additionally, this decision says as government, you accept that public schools are overcrowded and therefore social distancing will be impossible, because we know that the reality of 50+ children in a classroom is still pervasive in South Africa.
With this decision, Mr President and your Cabinet can you work tirelessly to ensure that the infrastructure in the public schools is on par with that of the private school?
Dear Mr President you and your cabinet know very well that some public schools, in particular in the rural areas there has been no running water and the issue of sanitation as alluded to by Phumi Ramalepe has been continuously horrendous with learners who have to relieve themselves outside.
Sometimes there is no need to be clinical about the reasons for closing the public schools vs private schools.
Yes, the learners from public schools are not just in compressed classrooms but they also have no water to wash hands.
Surely, this is not too much to ask if the funds are channelled in the right direction. Also, can you ensure that the learner-teacher ratio in the public schools is fixed and maintained as a matter of urgency?
These are basic things, which if they were in place, could have reached a different decision with your Cabinet.
There has been a very clear indication and as it has been said by educationists such as Jonathan Jansen that ‘what the virus has done is expose the inequalities in school system’.
In this I do not need to indulge you on the unacceptable myriad of disparities as Nurran Davids has done justice to highlight such gaps.
The reason why your grandchildren and those of your colleagues will continue benefiting from the education, is because the system is not levelled for the children of the Marikana mine workers and the farm workers.
I await for Minister Angie to provide a clear and executable plan on how this year will be recuperated.
I do know that it might have some casualties and I certainly hope that it will not be the children from the rural areas.
Who am I fooling? If there are such casualties the destitute will bear the brunt and I await for you Ma Angie to disappoint me.
For now, my heart is sinking with the realisation that, the rich and privilege will continue getting education while the majority and destitute will be left behind.
* Xeketwana is a lecturer in the Education Department at Stellenbosch University.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of IOL.