The baton exchange

Tshwarelo Hosia | Monday June 19, 2023 06:00

The relay race analogy is relevant to the three levels of 10-year basic education. Ideally a seamless and flawless exchange of baton is supposed to occur from pre-primary and primary school, junior to senior secondary levels.

But in reality there appears to be a crisis of baton exchange. Lack of a strong synergy and communication across these levels is a vexing challenge which should give classroom practitioners on the ground and policy makers at the central office sleepless nights. Here is a very interesting scenario. There is a clear and pronounced achievement gap between the three levels of basic education. The primary sub sector seems to be ticking all the right boxes and continues to rule the roost while its secondary school sub sector is shaky and wobbling.

Consequently the latter commands little respect due to its persistent culture of academic underachievement. In our jurisdiction, about 70% is the average score that primary schools achieved in the last five years while the performance at junior and senior secondary schools hovered around an average of 30% in the same period. The achievement gap between the different levels could be an indication that the primary school foundation stage is rock solid and more resilient while subsequent levels appear a little shaky and less able to manage and navigate their challenges associated with education.

Of course it is worth noting that the level of difficulty and complexity increases as students climb the academic ladder and therefore it would be unreasonable for one to expect upper levels to match pound for pound the very basic foundation stage. However, if achievement gap is too wide and seemingly unbridgeable, this should be a cause for concern. Student achievement data clearly shows that the upper levels, somewhere in the process, suffer from the indignity of dropping the baton and this unfortunately results in a devaluation of the quality they inherited from primary schools.

The mixed fortunes that the different levels experience in terms of student achievement data suggests that the primary schools and secondary schools do not speak a common language. Primary schools are saying (as data indicates) in a given cohort, seven out of 10 students are teachable and can achieve quality results (grade C or higher) while the same cohort is likely to be downgraded to three out of 10 students being able to register grade C or better at the secondary school level. There is an urgent need for the system to look critically into issues of synergy and communication between the different levels.

It is important to find ways and means of bridging the gap in such a way that a student who is rated a high flyer at primary level could enjoy such ratings and accolades at higher levels. Devaluation should be minimised at all costs as it does not auger well for the system. Our schools should instead cultivate the habit of taking pride in value addition as opposed to devaluation. One way of bridging the gap is to strengthen collaboration between primary schools and secondary schools. Hitherto each sub sector is working in silos and strictly focused on its lane. The left hand does not know what the right hand is doing. To achieve this end, a platform should be deliberately created to facilitate an exchange of best pedagogic and governance practices.

Nonetheless, the sterling performance which primary schools consistently show is nothing short of a miracle considering the myriad of challenges the sub sector is facing. The sub sector is facing unique and peculiar challenges. There is the old issue of dual administration – an arrangement in which the primary schools serve to master because they partly fall under the jurisdiction of local government and central government. It is common knowledge that local government takes care of provision and maintenance of physical infrastructure while the central government is responsible for the management of human resource (hiring, deployment and payment of salaries).

In terms of resource endowment, primary schools are trailing behind. They are underfunded and under resourced. Owing to competing priorities, it would appear that the Local Government is hitherto unable to match the lofty standard set by Central Government at the secondary school level. In the field of remuneration, efforts have been made to place teachers at the same pedestal across levels. The famous levels of operation (notwithstanding a few concomitant challenges) made significant strides to place teachers on equal footing by bridging and closing salary disparities between primary and secondary school teaching staff.

Besides resource constraints, absence of subject specialisation in primary schools is yet another factor that has the potential to cripple provision of quality education. Above all, some of the primary schools are still battling with shortage of classrooms and maintenance challenges. In spite of the near insurmountable challenges that continue to dog primary schools, it would appear the foundation schools display without ceasing a rare indefatigable spirit. The schools at the foundation level thrive on innovation and improvisation.

Shortage of critical teaching and learning inputs is not deterring our patriotic teachers from going out of their way to go on a fishing expedition for teaching aids. Classrooms are always decorated with handmade teaching aids, a taxing and tiring job, which requires a deep sense of love and patriotism. But the teachers are always ready to pay whatever price to ensure quality instruction. This is a clear demonstration of the sacrifices that the teachers make to the profession that they love in a bid to create a rich and fun filled teaching and learning experience.

Foundation teachers have found a way around the issue of lack of teacher specialisation. That way it is promotion and encouragement of teacher collaboration and team teaching. The culture of sharing of best instructional practices is very much well entrenched. It is difficult for anyone to choose to go it alone in an atmosphere that places emphasis on team work. The one thing important factor that distinguishes the primary school sub sector is the unrelenting focus on matters of instruction. The focus on literacy, reading and writing is dong primary schools a world of good. However, secondary schools too have the potential to do better.

Other than bringing secondary schools much more closely to primary schools, it is important to attend to all the grey areas such as improving teacher collaboration, improving content in in-service teacher development courses; revising pre-service teacher education, frequency of assessment and provision of teaching and learning materials. Subject specialisation is a plus in secondary schools but it should be managed with extreme caution to avoid silos and the rise of a go-it-alone culture.