Children have to be educated, but they have also to be left to educate themselves.

In a recent article, which can be found here, Professor Jonathan Jansen of the University of the Free State discusses the current state of the South African education system. Specifically, he dissects and argues against the current coding system implemented by the Department of Education. This article has made the rounds throughout EwB, but the reason for really mentioning  it at all is that the core argument behind it has constantly cropped up in the last two to three weeks. Here are some of my thoughts on the article itself.

Obviously coming from the U.S., the idea of passing with a 30% (or 40%, 50%, and 60%) is ludicrous. If you only know 30% of any material, do you actually know it? Learners are happy with passing with their 30%, and why shouldn’t they be? They are lauded as an educational success story, they passed, they can be someone. However, by continuing to maintain this 30% they will, as the article says, continuously be behind in school, university and work. This will create a generation of inept, incompetent and quasi-useless work force.

At school, I have had many discussions with teachers and tutors over this new-ish code system that rewards mediocrity. The big complaint being that the learner’s are not really learning anything, and a 30% pass for a class is almost like saying each grade has an automatic promotion. You really have to actively try to fail a grade to not move on. Within the program we continuously try to make the magic number 60%, always saying that you can’t get into university without those numbers. So we try to deflate the idea that 30% is a successful grade and continue to make them work hard to raise their own levels instead of rest on their laurels.

Yet, I do have one grudge against the article. The way it is written seems to blame students for some of the problems. While I believe that their ineptness is a product of the system, they are just working in what they know. It is the governments responsibility to change the educational system to one that is more representative of the actual situation. On top of that, it is universities responsibility to curb their admission requirements accordingly or they will continue to face high drop out rates and attrition. It is common sense. It is impossible to start a ground-up attitude for ALL learners, it just won’t ever happen. This needs to be one of those rare places where a top-down approach is best used. The biggest reason being, why would a learner actively try to change something that does not benefit them. Why would they support something that no matter what makes them a worse looking student.

However, on top of this Professor Jansen must remember that changing the codes isn’t the only thing that must be done. To create better learners, you need more efficient and effective use of resources, better teachers, computers, incentives, schools, field trips or a myriad of other things that could influence a child to want to be better. Its a problem with no simple solution, but one that needs to be fixed immediately if South Africa wants to take that next step in development.