Opinion - Now that the 2017 NSC exams are done and dusted, it is time to focus on the new year.
KwaZulu-Natal showed a marked improvement when compared to 2016’s performance, improving its results by 3.4%.
Commenting on the release of the results, the provincial chairperson of the National Professional Teachers Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa), Marian Bruce, noted that despite recording the third lowest pass rate in the country, KZN showed the biggest improvement nationally.
This augers well for the provincial Department of Education as well as other stakeholders involved in education, as it is evidence of moving forward in the right direction.
A positive start sets the tone for the year ahead.
Many schools whose results have improved (even marginally) will have raised the bar.
And teachers, as well as learners, will be working with the aim of improving even further.
The Department of Education may also take a more confident approach to their strategy plans from last year and (hopefully) rectify the shortcomings they have encountered.
But achieving quality education in the South African context means far more than improving on the matric results each year.
If anything, achieving optimal standards of teaching and learning throughout the country is akin to climbing a steep hill, backwards.
It may be a long and difficult journey.
But not impossible.
The 2018 cohort of learners, from Grades R to 12, face a myriad difficulties, which hinder their right to a quality education, many of which may go unnoticed by the learners and their parents.
Education, more specifically public education in South Africa, faces many (if not all) the ailments associated with other state-run departments in our country.
Some of the issues surrounding the poor quality of public education revolve around the building of new schools, overcrowded classrooms, the supply of learner/teacher support material (or lack thereof), fraud and corruption where money is involved with the upkeep of schools, inadequately skilled educators, a lack of maths and science teachers, not to mention a poor culture of teaching and learning.
This is further exacerbated when we compare ourselves with the rest of the world, only to discover that we trail far behind in terms of curriculum delivery and the actual quality of our education.
At the presentation of a ministerial draft report on the quality of South African school textbooks, it was discovered that South African textbooks fall far below the grade level they are meant for.
In other words, as an example, a child in Grade 5 is reading a textbook that is actually written at the level of a Grade 4 learner.
Textbooks, especially in the lower grades, need to be appropriate and must be written in the context of our country and its demographics, while meeting the curricular needs of the schooling system.
Creating a strong educational foundation for our learners is the single most important key to producing above average learners.
The importance of Early Childhood Development (ECD) cannot be emphasised enough.
The Department of Education must ensure that Grade R educators are suitably trained and qualified.
Research commissioned by the Gauteng Department of Education in 2015 concluded that most Grade R learners were not ready to enter the formal schooling system at the end of their Grade R year.
The ECD sector of education requires just as much support from the Department of Education as is received in the higher grades.
Grade R teachers need to be appropriately trained and remunerated.
With the exception of professional development workshops provided by the likes of Naptosa, the Department of Education does little to support the educators, who are most significant in shaping young minds at that crucial part of a child’s development.
Teacher training institutes also fall short in the grand scheme of things.
The biggest issue among the various institutions around the country is the lack of uniformity.
There needs to be a unified tertiary education curriculum for all prospective teachers.
Herein lies the problem of a poor culture of teaching and learning.
Schools have educators entering the system from all manner of tertiary institutions, and while they may be suitably qualified to teach, the question is: Are they adequately qualified?
The poor quality of many maths and science educators is alarming. South Africa has on many occasions been found at the bottom of the table in terms of its maths and science results.
Here again the solution can only be found where a strong foundation is created in the early years and a sound standard of teaching must follow throughout the grades until the exit point at Grade 12.
However, this can only be accomplished if we produce students with a strong mathematical and analytical comprehension, and encourage or incentivise them to pursue maths and science teaching as an attractive job opportunity.
Some may argue this is simply wishful thinking at this time.
Finally, a good education must have a holistic approach.
The role of parents in their child’s schooling is as important as every other stakeholder in education.
It is at home where the rules are set.
Children, it goes without saying, are impressionable.
They mimic their environment and their demeanour is a reflection of their upbringing.
Parents must create a suitable environment for children.
It is at home where the value and respect for education must be emphasised.
Parents should instil the desire in their children to want to achieve the best quality of life possible through a sound education.
This can only be done through active participation in school work and homework.
* Rishal Juguth is an executive officer at Naptosa KZN and is a representative for all matters related to curriculum and professional development. He served as a lead teacher in the Pinetown district for close to a decade and was deputy chief marker for geography paper 2 in 2016.