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EDUCATION: THE MOST POWERFUL REDRESS
by
Mosibudi Mangena
Opposite my official residence in
Tshwane, lives an ophthalmic surgeon, a man I admire enormously.
After qualifying as a doctor, he went back to medical school to
specialize in internal medicine. But, on realizing that the
major part of his job entailed managing chronically ill patients
until the end of their days, he changed direction. He went back
to the books to specialize in eyes.
He says he experiences several highs every working day as he
observes the faces of patients he had just operated on
brightening in joy as their sight is restored. This is in stark
contrast to his other specialty in internal medicine where such
highs are rare.
I admire him because it takes guts, grit and brilliance to
successfully study and practise so much medicine.
Most of us in our country probably feel the same warmth in our
hearts as the state gives free housing to millions of our
citizens and social grants to more millions of our compatriots.
No doubt this is both necessary and proper, but it is neither
sustainable nor the most effective way to tackle poverty and
disadvantage.
The vast majority of our people would love to be released from
the tyranny of “delivery”. Nobody could enjoy the powerlessness
that comes with inability to build or rent or buy your own
house, or inability to pay for your electricity, water and other
such services. Those of our people who have to wait for
“delivery” are in a “prison” of sorts. It should be the
objective of all of us to free all our compatriots from these
bonds of poverty as soon as practicable.
The AZAPO Twelve-Point Programme released recently, cites
education as the most effective and powerful redress mechanism
available. The programme argues that for a country like ours
with a long history of discrimination and huge levels of
inequality, giving everyone good and solid education is a sure
way of tackling poverty and giving our young a fighting chance
in life.
Of course, giving education to many of our young does not
provide the “instant gratification” of our ophthalmic surgeon or
the handing out of social grants to the most deserving in our
society. Education has a “gestation period” many times that of
an elephant.
Our children who started school with the arrival of democracy in
1994 are only in their second year of tertiary education in
2008.
The Twelve-Point Programme of AZAPO proposes that education be
made priority number one of our nation because it will:
provide many of our young with the skills and knowledge to
escape poverty
provide our economy with appropriately skilled people to
propel it forward
produce citizen who can create employment for themselves and
others
begin to close the gap between the rich and the poor of
yesterday
produce citizens who are better placed to buy, build or rent
their own accommodation and pay for services rendered, and
In due course, reduce the number of our people “imprisoned” by
“delivery”
In addition, a good and functioning education system does not
only give young people writing, reading and calculating skills,
but also civic responsibilities and positive character
development.
Through enriching activities such as music, art, sport and other
clubs at school, which are monitored and guided by teachers,
youngsters ate moulded into wholesome and worthy human beings.
It is our contention that we would not be able to deal
effectively and fundamentally with poverty, crime and other such
social ills until we have managed to construct and run an
effective and efficient education system.
We have to admit, frankly, that our education system under
freedom has not been an unqualified success. It has been
demonstrated time without number that our children cannot read,
write and calculate properly at every level.
All of us as parents, teachers and authorities at different
levels, must accept that we are failing our off-spring. And this
failure on our part manifests itself in the levels of
anti-social behaviour in our youth and the paucity of skills in
their ranks. Our kids are not to blame, but those of us who are
adults and control different aspects of societal resources and
institutions.
Making education priority number one as proposed by the AZAPO
Twelve-Point Programme would mean, inter alia, that:
more resources be invested in education
schools be provided with sufficient and necessary facilities
such as libraries, laboratories, sports field etc.
all schools should have appropriately trained and remunerated
teachers
discipline at all levels of the system must be enforced
society, but particularly parents, must be mobilized to
support their schools at the same time as they respect the
professionalism of the teachers
The culture and linguistic diversity of our county should be
cherished and harnessed for common progress,
teaching manuals be available in all languages to train
plumbers, welders, bricklayers, carpenters and other such
practical skills, and
civic education and responsibilities be part and parcel of the
education system.
My brilliant ophthalmic surgeon neighbour left internal medicine
to specialise in the ailments of the eyes in order to afford
himself frequent victories and the pleasure of seeing so many
people rejoicing.
However, the fruits of a well-functioning education system come
after a long haul of effort and application. But that investment
in resources, time and effort are the only near certain success
we need as a country.
For us to be able to provide clean water, build roads and
bridges, fly our aeroplanes or build them, cure ourselves and
our animals of diseases, develop technologically advanced goods
and services for trade with other nations, and develop the arts
and effectively combat social ills such as crime and
unemployment, we need a good and effective education system.
Of course many factors have to combine to create a winning
country, but a well rounded and functioning education is one of
the important ones.
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